Dead Hearts
by ParisianGreen15
Summary: In a time where hope is lost and love is scarce, Mae Greysons fight to survive grows deeper after she loses her cousin, but her luck changes when she makes a run in with Rick Grimes and his group. Slaying Walker's and struggling to keep bad memories at bay,Mae finds comfort in the most unlikely of people:Merle Dixon. They fight to stay together and keep love alive in a dying world.
1. Scorching

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead in any way, shape, or form. I only own my OC Mae Greyson and any other OC's I come up with. This story is written out of pure enjoyment and is intended for other's enjoyment as well.

Warning: There is strong language, blood, and violence, but if you watch The Walking Dead, you're probably used to that :)

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy!

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**Chapter 1: Scorching**

It was hot. The heat of the day was growing as the sun drew higher in the sky. Every tree and leaf looked to be boiling over and shriveling up upon the ground. This worried Rick. If this heat continued then more plants - edible plants - could die before they had a chance to get to them. Animals, too, dying of heatstroke and lack of food. Rick had brought a small party out to hunt with him: Glenn, Maggie, Daryl and his brother Merle. They'd been out since the break of dawn, trying to find something, anything, to bring back to the prison. Sadly, everything was dead or dying when they came upon it. Today didn't hold much promise.

The forest was quiet, too quiet, and not many birds were out; not the normal amount there should have been, like in the old days. Back before the world sort of ended. Birds probably thought it was too hot to even sing a song. Rick didn't blame them, but oppressive silence set him on edge, and each twig snap and rustle of leaves did too. He hadn't relaxed since he woke up in that hospital, and didn't expect to anytime soon. Not with the dead about.

"We should call it a day, Rick. We're not finding anything today," Glenn sighed, wiping his brow.

"Glenn's right. We need to go back and hydrate. All of this heat isn't good for us," "Maggie added, panting a bit herself.

"Just a while longer," Rick said. "Let's just finish scoping out this area, and then we'll come back tomorrow to check out the east side."

Without a word of disagreement from the group, Rick pressed on and everyone followed behind him.

Daryl paused for a moment, raising his crossbow and aiming up at the tree.

"Whatcha' find?" His brother, Merle, asked.

"Squirrel, I think. Yeah, see him?" Daryl pointed up.

Glenn followed the direction Daryl was pointing in, and looked hard at the little grey animal on the branch.

"I...I think it's dead. " Glenn said. "It's not moving or anything."

Daryl squinted up, looking closer up. He picked up a rock and threw it at the squirrel, causing it to drop to the forest floor with a soft thud.

"Dammit. Everything's dyin'," Daryl grumbled.

"What'd you expect? It's hot as hell out here," Merle said.

Suddenly, a brownish bird hit the ground right next to where Maggie stood. She jumped a little, letting out a gasp. The group looked at it, confirming it to be dead as well.

"Let's get out of here before this little outin' becomes some Hitchcock film," Merle said, poking at the bird with his foot.

"Just a bit further," Rick said a few steps ahead of them, having little interest in the bird.

"It's so hot, I feel like I'm gonna pass out," Glenn moaned.

"Better wait to pass out back at the prison, cause I ain't carryin' your ass back up there," Merle said, passing Glenn and Maggie.

"Don't worry, I'll try to contain myself," Glenn retorted, too hot and exhausted to think of a good comeback.

The group trekked on for another twenty minutes until Merle spoke up.

"I think it's time to close the curtain on this little shit show, eh, Sheriff? One of us passes out and a Walker comes, we're as good as dead, and I don't feel like dying today," Merle said, his voice exhausted as sweat rolled down his face.

"Hold up!" Rick whispered, peering through the trees. "Do y'all see that?"

The four came up behind Rick and looked in the direction of where he was pointing. A small log cabin was sitting in the middle of these woods, overgrown and seemingly abandoned. There were no signs of someone living there from the outside, but the inside could tell a whole different story. They were all too familiar with it.

"Come on, let's check it out. There could be supplies still in there," Rick said. "Hopefully no one's cleaned it out yet. "

They all hurried silently and carefully to the little cabin, noticing it only had one floor. It looked more like a large shed than a home. Daryl noticed a fire pit on the side, but on further inspection, saw it was completely dry and filled with ashes. No one had made a fire in it in a long time.

Daryl gave a nod and he and Rick climbed up the porch, slowly. Rick reached for the door knob and slowly opened it. It looked as if no one had even bothered to lock it. Convenient...and rather conspicuous. The handle felt loose, almost like it could fall off into Rick's hand if he pulled on it any harder. Old age, or forced entry perhaps...

His footsteps creaked as he leaned inside, with Daryl right behind him.

_Bunch of junk in here_, Daryl thought to himself as he looked around. His eyes scanned across the room, picking up a lot of dusty knickknacks and mismatched furniture cluttering up the place. Rick spied a bunch of fishing poles leaning against the wall, and his chest felt a bit lighter. He went to inspect them... seemed like they were in pretty good condition. He whistled for Glenn to come in and collect them, carrying them out to haul them back up to the prison during their return trip.

"Alright!" Merle smiled. "Could get some proper fishin' done with those bad boys."

Glenn set them down against a tree and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Glenn, you alright?" Maggie asked, touching his arm softly.

"Yeah. Just really hot," he weakly smiled.

"You better just keep watch. I'll carry the poles back," Maggie smiled, lovingly.

Rick and Daryl scanned the living room for anything important. They were able to shove a few quilts and pillows in their bags, and even collect a few extra pocket knives lying about. It looked as if the place hadn't been touched yet which to them was incredibly good for them. Unlike many places they had come across in the previous few months, this place was a gold mine compared to the empty, looted shells that they were so used to.

A sudden creak in the floor boards from the back room doused that thought quickly. Daryl signaled over to Rick that it came from the door down the hall. There were only two doors, and one was slightly ajar. Rick carefully slid down the hall and pushed in the door, stepping slowly inside. A simple bed made out of wood with flannel sheets laid in the corner and more knickknacks were laid about with a bunch of fishing gear and what looked like to be a first aid kit by the side of the bed. Forgetting to take a double look through the room, Rick went in for the first aid kit. He grabbed its handle when suddenly a decrepit hand grabbed his. Lying in the bed under the sheets was a Walker, a very old looking one. His body was rotting away and began to fall apart as it tried to pull itself up to get to Rick. It gave a sickly gurgle as it opened its mouth, emitting a horrible stench. Before Rick could pull out his knife and end the unfortunate existence of the Walker and even before he could even comprehend the scene that was unravelling in front of him, a human being had crept out from nowhere, and had hopped onto the bed and was slamming an ice pick axe into the Walkers skull.

Once the Walker's gurgles and hungry moans came to an end causing a deafening silence to hover over them, the girl turned to Rick.

"You nuts?!" The girl yelled at him, her voice even startling her.

Rick could have asked her the same question, and probably added in "Where the hell did you just come from?" but he refrained.

Rick shook off the Walker's hand, backing up a few feet and putting a hand on his holster. The girl quickly removed her axe and hopped down from the bed. Daryl came in, crossbow raised and aimed at the young woman, ready to shoot. The girl looked a little stunned to see him, and even more frazzled to see the gun at Rick's waist that he was slowly reaching for.

"Sorry..." she said. "It's just... you could have gotten yourself bit."

She was a tall, thin wisp of a thing. Probably hadn't had anything decent to eat in a while. She was pale and looked as if she hadn't seen the sun for a while. Her thick head of chestnut hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with two little berets on the side to hold back her fringe. Small curls were plastered to her face with sweat and she panted heavily still, her heart probably still pumping after killing the Walker. Her clothes seemed pretty clean for the most part. A little worn, but no dirt or grim stuck to them unlike their own. Her ensemble consisted of worn out skinny jeans, that despite their namesake were hanging off her small frame, and a thin button down with a green plaid design adorned her frail body. A cargo vest hung around her, obviously made for a man due to its large size, and a utility belt was wrapped around her waist. She seemed pretty geared up, and with the ice pick, Rick wouldn't doubt her if she said she was on her own.

"Rick..." Daryl asked, his eyes not leaving the girl. "You alright?"

"Yeah, fine," Rick replied. "You alright?"

The girl realized he was asking her this.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks..." She gave a little smile.

Rick and Daryl exchanged glances and lowered their weapons. The girl was obviously not a threat to them.

"What's your name?" Rick asked.

"Mae," she replied. "Mae Greyson."

The two men nodded in a silent 'nice to meet you'.

"My name's Rick Grimes. This here is Daryl Dixon," Rick said.

Mae nodded with a grin. "Nice to meet you both."

"You out here by yourself?" Rick asked, looking around to see if anyone else was about to jump out of the closets.

"Well, now, yes. But I have a camp set up with my cousin and her boyfriend. Just us three roaming around, trying to find a place to crash. You know… somewhere safe. This place seemed pretty reasonable. That is, until I realized you guys already had it claimed," Mae said, downbeat.

"We don't have it claimed," Rick said. "We have a place and a group of our own. We were just out here looking for food, but everything's shriveling up and dying. "

"Yeah. " Mae laughed bitterly. "I've noticed that too. Can't find a berry bush to save my life."

"How stocked are you and your cousin?"

"Pretty low. Got two jars of peanut butter and some power bars, but that's pretty much it. Max, my cousin's boyfriend was lucky enough to shoot down a duck a few nights ago, but that's long gone now," Mae said. "How many people are in your group?"

Rick decided this girl seemed pretty trustworthy. She didn't hesitate to tell him anything and didn't come off as threatening. She seemed pretty well-to-do if she had made it this far with just three people. They could always prove useful back at the prison. One of them could hunt and Rick could already see Mae was fearless when it came to Walkers. He decided to give her the offer.

"'bout eleven," Rick said.

Mae's eyes widened.

"Wow. That's great," she smiled. "Very lucky."

"Everyone's very hospitable and our place is safe. We're stationed up at the prison south of here. We have a portion cleared out and secure. If you'd like, you and your group could come back with us. I'd have to meet them first of course," Rick said.

"Really?" Mae asked, completely shocked. She could cry and jump for joy at the same time. It showed on her face how amazing she felt this was. "Of course you can meet them; we set up camp not too far from here last night. I-I'm sorry, I just... thank you."

"Welcome. Now, let's finish sweeping the area, grab what we can and we'll follow you back to your camp," Rick said.

"Right," Mae smiled. "I already checked the bathroom. No meds or anything. Only a box of tic tacs. Looks like this nature guy didn't believe in medicine."

"Yeah, nothing but a John and a sink in there," Daryl confirmed. "Best give the kitchen a quick look through."

The three headed out back into the living room as Rick stashed the first aid kid in his bag.

"Looks like he was getting desperate to use that thing, though," Mae nodded at the first aid kit, putting a box of matches from the table in her pocket. "Died before he could use it."

"Got bit on his neck," Daryl said, opening up a couple cabinets. "Probably tried to fix the wound and locked himself away in here. Too bad he didn't know medicine wouldn't help the son of a bitch becoming a Walker. "

"Walker? Oh, you call them Walkers?" Mae caught on.

"What do you call 'em?" Rick asked.

"Nothing clever. Max and Audrey just call them cannibals or flesh eaters. But at least Walker sounds a bit better, in a weird sort of way," Mae said.

Rick understood what she meant, and nodded to her.

"Alrighty, let's blow this joint. Old man had nothing," Daryl yawned.

"At least we got the fishing poles," Rick said, heading for the door. "We'll tell Glenn and the others to head back while we-"

"Rick!"

Maggie called over, kneeling on the ground next to an unconscious Glenn.

"What happened?!" Rick exclaimed as he ran over to Maggie.

"He just passed out! I think he has heatstroke," Maggie said, worry straining her voice.

Glenn grumbled a little bit.

"What in the world took you two so long?" Merle asked, not noticing Mae until she peered out from behind Rick and Daryl. "Who the hell is that?"

"This is Mae Greyson. She saved me back inside the cabin from a Walker," Rick said, checking Glenn's temperature with the back of his hand against his forehead.

"She comin' with us?" Merle asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Maybe," Daryl said. "Most likely. "

"Here-" Mae said, rushing to Glenn's side and pulling a large water bottle from her backpack. "Take off his shoes and socks and roll up his pants. He needs to get as much clothing off of him as possible. Does anyone have a rag or cloth I could use?"

Daryl pulled out a bandana from his pocket and handed it to her. Mae dabbed the bandana until it was soaked and started to pat his face and neck with it.

"He needs to cool down quickly or it could get worse," Mae said.

"We need to get him back to the prison," Maggie said, looking up at Merle.

"Don't look at me, sweetheart! I ain't carryin' him up. Already told him that. Plus, I'm one handed," Merle said, waving his homemade prosthetic at her.

"Everyone's hospitable?" Mae grinned at Rick.

"Everyone but Merle," Daryl said. "Lousy brother that he is. "

"Love you too, Darlena," Merle smirked.

Oh brothers, Mae thought. What an interesting group.

"Daryl? Rick?" Maggie asked desperately.

"Hell, I'll do it if the lout won't help," Daryl grumbled, moving towards the unconscious man.

"Daryl, I need you to come with me," Rick said. "To meet Mae's group."

"Damn it to hell, sheriff! Can't you let your little boyfriend go for five minutes?!" Merle groaned.

"Cut the crap and don't be difficult, Merle. Carry Glenn back or I'll give Maggie permission to shoot you!"

"Watch how you speak to me, boy, or I'll knock your teeth so far back you'll be blowing them out your nose!"

"Um, not to interrupt, but someone needs to take him back now," Mae interjected.

"Fine!" Merle growled and scooped up Glenn unexpectedly, nearly knocking Mae over.

Maggie helped Mae up, giving her a kind smile, quickly following after Merle. Mae could hear Merle grumbling as he and Maggie quickly moved through the forest.

"Let's make this quick, alright?" Daryl said.

"Glenn will be fine once he gets to the prison. Hershel will take care of him," Rick said. "Lead the way, Mae. "

With her new companions behind her, Mae felt a sense of safety she hadn't felt in a long time. Of course, she had no proof that they were telling the truth and this was some elaborate way to kill her or worse… but trusting them felt better than not trusting them. They all seemed like good people, well... maybe not Merle.

"Should be coming up now. You can see our tent," Mae smiled as she pointed ahead.

Indeed, Rick and Daryl could both see a blue tent just ahead.

"Audrey!" Mae called out softly, but loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. "Max!"

There wasn't a response.

"Max? Audrey?"

Rick suddenly felt a twist in his stomach as he saw a body lying on the floor of the camp. It was that of a woman in a mangled brown dress.

"Oh my God..." Mae froze.

The woman had an arrow through her head, so now she was completely dead.

"Mae, I'm sorry-"

"That isn't Audrey," Mae said. "And... that's one of Max's arrows."

Mae scoped out the tent and all around, panic setting in.

"They're gone. They're stuff is gone too... both of their bags. Just gone..." Mae said. "The corpse must have scared them and they took off..."

"Do you know where they could have gone? Did you have a plan if this happened?" Rick asked, trying to calm her.

"No... Like I said, we just made camp here last night. We're new to this area. They could be anywhere right now or worse…" Mae's voice cracked and she suddenly broke down in tears.

"Oh my God..." She sobbed and sat on a fallen tree.

Rick came up and grabbed her shoulder, kneeling down next to her.

"You've been survivin' this for a while now. Sounds like Audrey and Max were pretty good at survivin' too. Probably thought this spot wasn't safe anymore after that Walker came and went off looking for you, or went to take shelter somewhere else till things cleared out," Rick said in comforting tones.

Mae wiped her eyes and looked back at Rick.

"You think so?" Mae asked.

"Most likely. Now the best thing to do now is-"

"Hey!" Daryl interrupted. "I think I found their tracks."

Rick stood up with Mae, and followed Daryl as he led them south east. It was until they came across a river that Daryl sighed and wiped his head free of sweat.

"Looks like they crossed the river. Pretty shallow over here, but it's only gonna get higher by night fall," Daryl said.

Daryl was obviously wiped out and could barely think anymore. Rick looked extremely warm, with sweat rolling down his face, but he didn't seem fazed by it much.

"Listen, I appreciate you both trying to help me find them, but I can see your both exhausted from the heat. I'll keep looking for them," Mae said, heading towards the river. "You guys can go on back to your camp. I'll be fine."

Rick knew she wouldn't be. Not in this heat. If he and Daryl left her now, she'd be dead by night fall.

"Come back with us and rest. You're in no shape to keep lookin' either," Rick said.

"Thanks," Mae smiled, despite her own fatigued state. "But I have to keep looking. They're my family. "

That's when Rick knew he made the right choice in trusting this girl. She was one of them at heart, and now only needed to join them.

"I know what family means to a person. As soon as I offered you to come back with us, that was an offer to become a part of ours. Do what you have to do, but if you want to find us again, our prison is just south of here, left of the river. You won't be able to miss it," Rick said.

Mae smiled at the both of them.

"Thank you... both of you. I won't forget your kindness." Mae said.

"Good luck. Hope you find them." Rick said. "Don't forget… It's just south of here, and left of the river."

Mae waved to them before she walked through the river, disappearing. Rick and Daryl watched her retreating figure until it faded away in the distance, and wished her a safe journey.


	2. Taken In

Thank you all for continuing to read! It really means a lot and I am very thankful. I'd like to give a special thanks to my Beta, the very talented **walking primrose**, who has helped me so much during this writing process :) I hope you all are having a wonderful day and enjoy the story!

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**Chapter 2: Taken In**

Rick and Daryl both returned to the prison safely that afternoon. They had told  
everyone about Mae, the girl that had save Rick and Glenn. Rick told them of  
her situation and everyone seemed to nod in understanding. Maggie had protested  
that Rick should have made her come back, that the heat was too much and the  
forest wasn't safe enough to be out in it alone. Rick knew this, and Mae knew  
this, but nothing could make her change her mind. She had to find Audrey and  
Max, and if she did, maybe she'd come back to them one day. He knew what  
finding family meant to her, he had felt it when he had set out to find his  
family.

With the whole prison asleep, Maggie, Rick and Michonne stood watch in the  
towers. It was nearing on midnight when Michonne spotted something coming from  
the woods.

"Walker?" Rick asked.

Michonne narrowed her eyes towards the tree line. "Not sure..."

Maggie grabbed the binoculars and peered down through them.

"It's...it's Mae!" Maggie said gladly. "She's… well, I can't see  
her that well, but she doesn't look too good, Rick."

"Maggie, stay in the tower. Me and Michonne will go and check things out,  
see if it's her."

As Rick came to the gate, and passed the handful of Walker's nearby, he saw a  
girl limping towards the gate.

"Is it the girl you know?" Michonne asked.

Despite the pained expression etched across her face, as well as her disheveled  
appearance and the severe limp that she was sporting, he could tell that it was  
Mae.

"Open the gate!" Rick said. "Hurry!"

Mae hobbled as fast as she could towards Rick, but before he could reach her,  
she collapsed into the rough gravel just as the gates opened. He soon reached  
her and went to scoop her up in his arms, but he found when he put his arms  
around her, his arm pushed into something hard, and Mae cried out in pain.

"Other side..." Mae directed him, her eyes closed shut.

Rick could barely see a thing and in the moment, didn't notice the arrow that  
was pierced through the back of Mae's thigh. He switched sides and carried her  
quickly through the gates before the Walkers closest to them could get to them  
as the cries of pain that escaped Mae's mouth had alerted them.

Inside the prison, Rick laid Mae on the ground. She was letting out sobs of  
pain, clutching at the arrow in her leg. Michonne switched on the lights,  
revealing the extent of the situation. Mae was soaked, head to toe in water.  
She was covered in scratches and cuts that most likely came from branches and  
the gravel she had fallen on. She must have fallen in a really muddy area for  
her whole left side was caked with it. As for her right leg, it was  
drenched in blood with a black arrow sticking through it.

"Wake up Hershel! Tell him what's happened!" Rick told Maggie as she  
ran towards them. He kneeled down at Mae's side.

"What the hell's going on?" Daryl asked, bounding down the steps into  
the room.

"It's Mae. She's injured real bad," Rick said.

"Eh," Mae smirked through the pain. "It's just a scratch."

But Rick knew that she was in pain by the way she winced at her comment. And  
for the fact that she couldn't get through her joke without seething in pain.  
Tears were streaming down her face, washing away some of the dirt. She looked  
an absolute mess.

"What happened, Mae?" Rick asked.

"Thought I was catching up on the trail. I found a small fire going and  
thought it was Audrey and Max. Turns out it wasn't. Must have thought I was the  
dead and shot me in the leg," Mae said, resting her head back on the  
cement floor.

"Don't worry, you're gonna be fine," Rick said, reassuringly.

Hershel had come down, along with Carol, Merle and Carl who had heard the  
commotion. He quickly examined Mae's leg.

"The arrow looks to be lodged in a tricky place. Doesn't look like its  
damaged anything, but it could if we take it out the wrong way," Hershel  
said.

Daryl saw the arrow, thinking of when one of his own impaled him. Hurt like a  
bitch, he remembered. He knew she was in a lot of pain.

"She has a fever," Hershel announced. " How long ago do you get  
this wound?"

"Maybe an hour after I met Rick and Daryl. After that, I tried my best to  
find this place like you said. I passed out halfway here from the heat. I must  
have been lucky that none of the dead were nearby," Mae said. "Will  
you be able to get it out?"

"It might take a while, and you'll be in pain, but I'll be able to get it  
out," Hershel said.

"Ugh," Mae sighed, wincing. "Just rip it out... I don't care,  
just rip it out."

"Just lay back, relax, and we'll fix you up as best as we can,"  
Hershel said.

Maggie knelt next to Mae and grabbed her hand, trying to comfort her and take  
her mind off the pain. Mae smiled up to her through tears and sweat and pain, thanking  
her silently.

Daryl helped Hershel by keeping Mae's leg elevated. Hershel gave a slight tug  
on the arrow, causing Mae to let out a moan of pain.

"It's in there good..." Hershel noted. "It's close enough to the  
surface that I'll be able to make an incision and get it out-"

"Enough of this sittin' around talkin' 'bout it," Merle said pushing  
past Hershel. "Wanna get it done, then get it done."

Merle wrapped his arm around Mae's leg and with his good hand, grabbed ahold of  
the arrow and ripped it right from her leg. Mae let out a scream of pain,  
squeezing the life out of Maggie's hand and she doubled over in her lap,  
crying.

"I was joking!" Mae hollered through her tears.

"Merle, you jackass!" Daryl glared at him.

"I got it done, didn't I? Quick and clean. Now old McDonald can patch her  
up and she'll be as right as rain," Merle said, tossing the bloody arrow  
on the ground. "You can thank me later."

"Mae, are you alright?" Maggie asked.

It took Mae a while to compose herself and keep her nerves leveled. Maggie  
rested Mae against her, still holding her hand and an arm around her shoulder.  
Mae gave a weak laugh.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just thank the son of a bitch who pulled out the arrow  
for me," she said faintly with a grin.

Merle gave a smile and sat down. Hershel worked quickly to cut the pant of her  
right leg off till that side of her jeans resembled shorts. He disinfected the  
wound and patched her up, giving her some medicine for the pain and a glass of  
water just to cool down.

"Your fever should come down within the hour. Drink plenty of water now,  
and rest up. That leg is gonna take a while to heal," Hershel said.

Water... that sounded nice and plenty of it sounded even better. Mae couldn't  
remember the last time she drank water without worrying when her next cup was going  
to be and where she was going to get it. She even was delighted at the sound of  
rest, not having to worry if you were going to get bit or shot or even just die  
in some awful way every second. The prison walls were her new safety, and she  
couldn't be more grateful. The only thing that worried her was Audrey and Max.  
She hoped they were alright... that they were safe. But of course they were,  
they were strong. She'd see them again... sometime.

"I'll stay with Mae tonight, watch over her and make sure her fever stays  
a bay through the night," Maggie volunteered. "You all need rest, and  
I don't mind."

Everything was settled then and Daryl and Rick helped carry Mae to an open  
cell. They laid her down in bed and elevated her leg and left Maggie with a few  
medical supplies she might need and a gun. Mae didn't really understand at  
first, but she understood after staring at it for a while.

"It's just a precaution, don't worry about it," Maggie said, hoping  
to palliate the guns presence. "Rick just thinks-"

"Don't worry, Maggie. I understand. I'd want you to protect yourself if  
things went bad to worse. It's not threatening me, more or less giving me an  
ugly reminder of what could happen," Mae said, resting her head back, a  
vision of herself as a Walker freaking her out momentarily.

Maggie pulled the thin covers over Mae's dirty frame and helped her to a sip of  
water before returning in to the small table in the room.

"Thanks again. I can't express how thankful I am to you all," Mae  
said, appreciatively.

"We should be thanking you. You saved Glenn for us. It means a lot...  
means a lot to me," Maggie said.

Mae got the hint that Glenn meant something special to her. She saw it in  
Maggie's eyes and the way the corner of her mouth pulled into a soft smile when  
she said his name. _How sweet_, Mae  
thought. Even in times like this, people were still able to form relationships  
and love between each other. Of course Mae had seen it with Audrey and Max, but  
she'd been exposed to their relationship way before the world crashed and  
already viewed them as an old married couple, going at each other all the time.  
Of course after every fight, they'd end up making out five minutes later and  
pretended like it never happened.

It was just refreshing, Mae supposed, to see someone in a different kind of  
love. She'd been hidden away from such an emotion for a long time now. Such a  
lack was the reason she was so baffled to meet these kind and caring people  
in the middle of all this chaos. She had thought all love and kindness died  
when the rest of the world did. She was glad some of it had managed to survive.

"Thank you...for staying with me, that is," Mae said.

"Don't worry about it, I just-"

"No, really," Mae said, thinking of her fate if it not had been for  
Rick and Maggie and all the others. "Being alone has never been a strong  
suit of mine."

Maggie took hold of Mae's hand and smiled, comforting her like a sister would.

"I'll be right here all night. You don't have to worry about  
anything."


	3. A Couple of Questions

Thank you all for checking out my story and giving it a read! And a big thanks to those who are following it already! It makes my heart extremely happy! I hope you all are having a wonderful day and continue to enjoy the story :)

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**Chapter 3: A Couple of Questions**

The next morning, Rick had called a group meeting. He called it after checking on Maggie and Mae. Mae was fast asleep and Maggie was right by her side, reading. He asked if anything had happened during the night or if Mae's fever came back, but Maggie only reported good news.

"Fell right to sleep and hasn't woken up since. The meds probably knocked her out, but she hasn't had a fever. It broke sometime in the night. When she wakes up she'll be in a hell of a lot of pain from her leg. I'll give her two more pain killers once she's eaten something," Maggie said.

Rick nodded, agreeing and pleased with how smoothly things had gone.

"That's great. Nothin' happen at all?" Rick asked.

"She talked a little in her sleep, but that was it," Maggie smiled. "I think she's good, Rick. I mean, I think she can be trusted."

That's what he had hoped for. It was something that kept him awake most nights. Could he trust people? Would he ever be able to trust another human being, another survivor? Trust was something that had to be earned. People had to show it almost immediately now.

"Me too, Maggie. Me too."

Maggie stayed with Mae and gave her breakfast just like she said she would while Glenn, Hershel, Daryl, Merle and Carol sat downstairs, ready for Rick to speak his mind.

"Comon' officer friendly, me and Daryl got traps to check. Wanna get to 'em before the Walker's do. Whatchu' call us here for?" Merle said, raising his feet on top of the table.

"Just a discussion about Mae. What the group feels we should do or not do. Everyone's got a say," Rick said, standing up to face everyone.

"Well, I think she looks like a sweet girl," Carol spoke up.

"And she saved Glenn back out in the forest," Daryl added. "Knows how to kill Walker's and scavenge. I'd say she's pretty useful. "

"How useful is she gonna be now with a bad leg?" Merle asked.

"How useful are you with a bad arm?" Glenn remarked, getting a glare from Merle.

"The wound will heal in a few weeks' time. With therapy and care, she'll be just fine," Hershel said.

"Weren't you saying something about her family, Rick?" Carol asked. "If they're still out there, she'll want to find them, right? How do we know if they can be trusted as much as Mae can?"

"She'd want to go lookin' for 'em as soon as her legs better, that's for damn sure," Daryl said.

"If she wants to leave, then let her leave. No one's stoppin' her," Merle said.

"I invited her and her group to come stay. Daryl and I went to meet them when Mae found out they were gone. Most likely she'd want to find them and bring them back here. Would everyone be willin' to help her if that's her choice?" Rick asked.

"We don't know the type of people she was with. They could be total opposites of who Mae is," Glenn said. "They could have ditched her for all we know."

"Why don't we wait till she's healed to start asking questions? It's going take a while and in that time we can get to know Mae, see if she likes it here," Carol said.

"What I'm askin' is," Rick drawled. "Would y'all be willin' to help her if she decided to ask for it?"

The group stayed silent for a few seconds until everyone started to nod their heads in consent. Noting everyone's decision, Rick gave a nod himself.

"I'll go talk to her now, see how she's doin'," Rick said, dismissing the meeting.

He climbed up the metal stairs and made his way to the cell that contained Maggie and Mae. When he appeared in the door way, he noticed that Mae was sitting up with a bowl of oatmeal in her hands. It looked as if Maggie and her hand been talking, but once they saw Rick, their conversation stopped.

"Sorry to interrupt," Rick said, bowing his head at the both of them.

"You're fine. We were just chatting," Maggie smiled.

"Mind if me and Mae chat for a while?" Rick asked. "Just wanna ask you a few things if you're up to it, Mae."

"Oh yeah. Of course, Rick," Mae smiled.

Maggie rose and gave Mae a smile before she left, leaving her and Rick alone. He sat down in the chair across from her. She still looked extremely worn out and tired. Perhaps it was the mud and scratches all over her, but there was no mistake that she hadn't slept soundly in a while.

"How ya doin'?" Rick asked.

"Fine, thank you. In a lot of pain, but the meds are slowly taking care of that," Mae said. "How are you?"

He was a little surprised at how chipper she was for being shot in the leg with an arrow. Rick could see she was trying her best to stay awake and be polite. He would have let her sleep if the circumstances were different.

"Doin' alright. I guess," he replied. "Listen, Mae. It's gonna take a while for your leg to heal, perhaps even a couple weeks. What I and the others would like to know if it's your intention of staying or not after you're healed. You're more than welcome to, if that's what you wanna do," Rick said.

"I... I do. That is, if you don't mind. I understand how incredibly kind this is of you and how you didn't even have to take me in, but you did and I...I won't be able to ever find a way to show you how grateful I am. Once I'm up on my feet again, I'll pull my weight around here, or do anything you need me to. I'm a good hunter and can cook pretty good... Sorry if I'm rambling..." Mae laughed at herself, her nerves getting the better of herself.

"'S'alright," Rick smiled. "It's nice to hear someone other than Merle talking. I don't doubt your sincerity or your abilities, but there are three questions I want you to answer with the utmost truth before I make a final decision."

Mae nodded, "Fire away. "

"How many Walkers have you killed?" Rick asked.

Mae looked down, trying to sum up a rough number in her head.

"A lot. I'd say roughly under a hundred. Max always got to them with his bow first. We've tended not to stick in an area where we had to kill too many off," she said.

"Have you ever killed another human being?"

Mae looked up at Rick. She'd met some pretty cruel people over the past year, one group in particular that stood out the most. It was during the beginning when her, Max, and Audrey were out on their own, not really sure what to do. Max suggested to find a group and join them, and that's what they did the first few months. They came across one that seemed promising, and accepted them right away, but during their first couple of days, Max discovered they weren't who they said they were. Part of the group came back one day with supplies, and upon Max's questioning, he found out they had slaughtered another surviving camp for their supplies. Max, Audrey, and Mae were able to escape that night and decided it would be best if they stayed on their own. Max never trusted any stranger after that night. It was hard for him to cope knowing that humanity was failing and morals no longer existed in a time when they were needed most.

"No. No, sir," Mae said.

"Would you?" He asked after a moment had passed. "If you had to?"

Mae quickly thought of Max and Audrey, hoping they were safe from the dead, or any other groups nearby.

"Only if they threatened the people I care about. But no, I wouldn't. Not for anything else." Mae answered.

Rick nodded his head, pleased with her answers.

"Alright, Mae," he patted her arm. "Rest on up now. I'll come back to check on you later on."

"Bye, Rick."


	4. A Trip Outside

Hello everyone! Hope you are all well and enjoying the story! Don't worry, we'll be getting some more Merle in the next chapter, I promise :) And to make up for it, I gave you a lot of Daryl in this one! One Dixon brother is better then none :P Enjoy!

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**C****hapter 4: A Trip Outside**

A couple of weeks passed and Mae was still bed ridden in her 'cozy' cell. Her leg was healing nicely, but it still hurt whenever she tried to walk or put weight on it and she had expected as much. She was grateful for the rest she was able to have but she was beginning to become frustrated and irritated at the fact that she was still unable to move her leg properly. She wanted to be able to get out of bed with little to no pain and be able to, at least, manage a few steps.

As the days passed by, she had attempted to put weight on her leg but it was too painful. She had begun to worry about whether or not the injury to her leg would allow her to walk properly. The feat of not being able to walk in the same manner again was always on her mind, and the dull ache in her leg was a painful reminder.

It was just that she was getting stir crazy and hadn't been outside in weeks. Nerves or muscle could have been damaged; she really didn't know, but she scared herself anyway with the idea. She gave her best attempt to walk yesterday, but the pain sent her right back to bed to stare at the walls. She wasn't used to being confined to bed, she was always on the go and it was a shock to her system.

It wasn't all bad, though. Maggie visited her every day, and they formed a close friendship over those couple of weeks. Mae got to know her sister, Beth, well too. Some nights Maggie would bring up Glenn and they'd play a few rounds of cards or just talk till it was time for lights out or until one of them had to go on guard duty. During the day, Carol would stop by for a while and keep her company, fill her in on everything that was going on. Rick did his daily visits with Hershel to see how she was, but he never stayed long. Mae didn't really see Daryl or his brother that much, only hearing them shout from time to time. She appreciated everyone and all they did. If only she could help them...honestly she was too scared she'd hurt herself further if she tried. She'd never been hurt like this before and she couldn't bare the loss of use in her leg. Not at a time like this.

Mae picked her bag up from the floor and laid it on the bed. She took out her notebook and a pen, meaning to do a little writing when suddenly she heard someone coming up the cell block steps. She thought it might be Carol for she always came around this time, but the steps were heavier. When she looked up she found it was Daryl standing in the frame of the cell.

"Rise and shine," he said, walking in.

"What do you mean?" She smiled, a little confused.

"No more layin' around, princess. Time for a little exercise," he said, folding his arms.

Mae stashed her notebook back in her bag and set it on the ground, but paused and looked up at Daryl.

"I... I can't yet," she said, disappointed with herself.

"I don't wanna hear that. You can and you will. Now come on, I'm gonna help you," Daryl said, out stretching his arms for her to take.

She looked at him curiously, surprised he offered to help at all.

"I ain't gonna stand here all day," he said with a slight grin. "And unlike you, I'm able to."

Mae carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed. Both of her feet touched the ground, setting her stomach in a knot. Daryl watched Mae expectantly, waiting for her to get up in her own time. He could tell that she was struggling and he extended his hands out to her. She grabbed his hands and pulled herself up. Already feeling pain, she shifted all of her weight onto her left leg, but those unused muscles gave out on her due to the excessive new amount of strain on them. Mae leaned over; and her hands slipped out of his and she found herself hurtling to the ground till Daryl caught her and pulled her up.

"You can't put all your weight on one leg, you gotta equal it out or you're gonna damage them," Daryl said. "Go ahead, stand up straight. Take it slow, now."

Mae held onto Daryl's arms for support as she tried her best to stand up, equaling out her weight on both her legs, just like Daryl said. She flinched at the stinging pain that shot through her leg, but fought against it as best as she could. Before long, she found herself standing face to face with Daryl. She smiled at her smile achievement, and Daryl found he was smiling too.

"See? Told you ya could," Daryl said. "Even though it looks like you shit your pants, you're standin' pretty okay."

Mae let out a laugh as she tried to straighten up better, even trying to let go of Daryl's arms.

"Woah," Daryl said, taking her arms before she wobbled over. "Don't get excited, now. We're just getting started."

"Sorry," Mae said, a blush coloring her cheeks. "What's next?"

"Thought you'd might like to go outside," Daryl said.

Mae's face lit up at the mere thought of it. Her whole body surged with a new found energy just begging to be taken outside.

"But," Daryl said. "You're gonna have to walk to get out there."

Step by step, and by step it was a very slow shuffle, Mae was able to walk down the cell block steps and out into the courtyard all with Daryl's help. Mae felt the warm sun on her skin and inhaled the fresh air all around her. Mae looked at Daryl and they exchanged a set of delighted smiles at each other.

"See, you did it!" Daryl said.

"With your help, of course. I wouldn't be out here if you didn't come to drag me out of bed. Thanks..." Mae said. "I needed the push."

"Don't thank me yet, twinkle toes. We ain't done yet," Daryl said. "I'm gonna let go now-"

"Wait, don't!" Mae clutched onto Daryl's arms, the strength in her legs fading. "I... I can't yet. "

"I told you, I don't wanna hear ya can't. You can. I'll take it slow," he said, standing her up straight again and sliding his arms away slowly.

"Remember to put equal amounts of weight on both sides, keep your balance... there you go."

Even though Daryl only stood inches away, Mae was standing up all by herself. It felt good to be up on two feet again.

"Mae!"

Mae looked up to find Maggie jogging towards her, a big smile on her face.

"You made it outside!" Maggie said jovially, looking between her and Daryl.

"Daryl got me out," Mae said, admiration gleaming through her eyes as she looked up at him.

"Gonna be gettin' her to exercise and get her legs back to workin'," Daryl said, smirking.

"How nice," Maggie said to Daryl. "I'm sure daddy will be happy to hear you're up and walkin'. Bet you missed the outdoors, huh?"

Mae looked all around, taking in the green grass and the lush forest surrounding the prison. She also noticed the dead walking around near the gates and her stomach twisted.

"Yeah, I did," she said. "Didn't miss those guys though. Nearly  
forgot..."

Mae had lived the past few weekend without having to worry about the dead walking around or trying to eat her as well as being faced with danger every single day. The prison made her forget all of the horrors that waited outside its thick cement walls. Now all those days being cooped up with nothing to do but sit seemed like heaven. But she needed to press on and keep going. She needed to keep on living.

"If only forgetting could make them go away," Maggie said.

Looking out at the forest made Mae think of Audrey and Max. It had been a month since she saw them, and suddenly the separation was getting to her. She wondered about them from time to time, but now, being out in the open again and  
face with the dangers that were lurking outside of the prison, it hurt Mae's heart not having her cousin with her.

Daryl saw how Mae's eyes searched the forest as if looking, hoping for a sign that her group was alright. He understood that feeling of separation between family members, knowing how empty she must feel. Hoping to distract her thoughts,  
Daryl took her arm and gently smiled at her.

"Come on. I think you'd better rest now. Don't wanna push yourself too much," Daryl said. "We don't wanna see you dancing on the tables too soon."

Mae took one more inhale of the warm air and nodded in agreement.

"Me and Glenn will be up later, Mae," Maggie said. "Hey, maybe you'll be able to come down and eat with us tonight!"

Mae smile, telling Maggie she'd love to and hoped to be there too. It would be great to be there with everyone all at once. She missed the company of eating with someone, even though it was something so silly and small. It was just comforting to Mae and reminded her of old times. Times when the dead were buried and stayed buried and not walking aimlessly around looking for their next meal.

Daryl helped her back into the prison and to her cell. She thanked him again, and he replied with a nod.

"Same time tomorrow," Daryl said. "You're gonna keep it up every day."

Every day sounded like a lot of work, but she was up for it.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Mae asked.

"Till you're healed? Maybe another month. You should be running in a few weeks," Daryl guessed.

"Good," Mae said, mostly to herself.

Now that she had got herself up and out bed thanks to the help and support of Daryl, the ambition to find Audrey and Max was surging through her body. As soon as Hershel told her she was good, she'd be out looking for the pair of them...

"Hey," Daryl said, gaining her attention. "We'll find 'em. Audrey and Max. Sure they're looking for you too."

Mae gave him a smile before he left her, leaving her alone with her notebook and pen once again.


	5. Whatever Daryl Says

Hello! Just wanted to give a quick thank you to all of my new followers and to those who added this story to their favorites! It's very kind of you, and I'm so glad you're all enjoying! Like I promised, here is some Merle :) If you have the time and you like a chapter, I would be ever so grateful if you left a review! I'd love to hear what you guys think so far! I hope you all are having a wonderful day!

Enjoy! :)

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**Chapter 5: Whatever Daryl Says**

"Thirteen! ... Fourteen! ... Fifteen! ... come on, I've seen five year olds do sit ups faster than you!"

"Watch it, Dixon!" Mae warned Daryl in a raspy voice as she smirked at him, pulling herself up off the ground to finish her set of fifteen.

Sweat poured off of her as the sun beat down hard on both of them as they worked out in the prison courtyard. Daryl had gotten Mae up at the crack of dawn and made her work out with him, building back her strength and training the muscles in her leg again. They did this every morning, and to Daryl's surprise, she never complained. Mae got up, pulled her dark waves up, laced up her boots, and raced him out the prison doors. Daryl had to admit, he did enjoy spending time with Mae. She was soft spoken, but gave him sass whenever he'd start being wise with her. She was thoughtful and sensitive, always picking up on people's emotions and feelings, never saying too much or too little. Mae had a way of making everyone feel comfortable, and that was probably what he liked most about her.

"Feelin' like you can do another fifteen?" He asked, holding down her feet.

She laughed and laid herself back down. "Start counting!"

"One ... two ... three ... come on! All the way up to your knees, girl!"

"I am!" Mae breathed in as she curled up.

"I ain't seein' it," Daryl joked, a smirk pulling at his lips.

"Maybe you need glasses," Mae said, curling up again and pinching the bridge of his nose, letting out a burst of laughter.

"I ain't need no glasses," he pushed her good leg to the side, throwing her off a little. "I think you need your eyes checked."

"Are you keeping count?!" Mae asked, letting out an exhausted sigh, laughing at Daryl.

"Eleven! ... Twelve! ... Thirteen!" Daryl shouted a little louder at her, showing her he had been counting the whole time.

After Mae hit fifteen, she collapsed on the ground and grabbed desperately for her water bottle next to her.

"We done for the day?" Mae asked before chugging her water.

"You can have a little break, but I want you to run two laps around the prison in ten minutes, and then you can be done for the day," Daryl said,  
resting in front of her.

Mae sighed, but she was good with that. She closed her eyes for just a second to take in the time she wasn't doing sit ups or push-ups or planking. Daryl had been great coaching her and leading her in the recovery process with her leg. Honestly, she wouldn't have been able to do it without him. Although he ran her ragged, she enjoyed every minute of it. Mae had grown attached to Daryl during the past two weeks. He reminded her of her brother. It was nice to have that male presence back in her life.

"I thought you two were working out, not goofin' around acting out sleeping beauty,"

Mae opened her eyes slightly, too blinded by the sun, using her hand to block the powerful rays from her vision. Above her, she saw Merle Dixon smiling down at the both of them. She gave a smile and a little wave up at the older Dixon.

"Hey Merle. " she said.

The two never talked much, only during dinner or when Daryl was around, and even then, it was only a hello and a couple words passed in between. Mae knew Merle as well as she knew chemistry, and that was very little. Both were extremely confusing and a little daunting when trying to understand them. Mae had given up on chemistry long ago, but she wasn't so reluctant to try to understand Merle. She'd at least give it a try, she told herself. Can't be as bad as chemistry.

He gave a slight nod at her, and she took that as a hello. Much better than being ignored, she thought; a real stepping stone between them.

"Anything the matter?" Daryl asked, looking up at his brother.

"Nothing urgent. Just wanted a word with ya' when you're not beatin' this poor girl up," Merle said, giving a squinting glare towards the sun. "You're both mighty resilient."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was a compliment," Daryl said.

"It wasn't. You're both damn stupid for pushin' yourselves in this heat," Merle said. "Makin' me sick just watching you two doing all that crazy shit."

Mae laughed, rising up on her feet with her water bottle in hand.

"Might want to look away then," Mae said to Merle, then turning to Daryl. "I'm gonna go run my laps now, Daryl. I'll let you and your brother talk. See you inside."

Mae smiled at the both of them as she started to jog away.

"Better stretch first!" Daryl called after her.

She smiled as she rolled her eyes, pausing where she was and leaning into a lunge.

"Girl listens to you like you were her father," Merle laughed. "Never thought I'd see you so close with a girl, little brother."

"Don't be a pain in the ass. What did you wanna talk about?" Daryl asked.

"Rick and I found a camp not too far from here earlier today. It looked abandoned, but we weren't sure. We thought it might be the girls group. Rick wanted to know what you thought about letting her come out tomorrow and investigatin' it," Merle said.

"Her leg is nearly healed, but it still gives out on her from time to time, especially if she puts too much pressure on it. I don't know if she's gonna be ready to go out there yet. A Walker could grab her leg and she'd be done for. Honestly, no, I don't think she's ready. And I don't think it would be wise setting her hopes up when it couldn't even be Max or Audrey's camp," Daryl said.

"Well, well. Looks like you've put a lot of thought into this. Nice that you're carin' about the girl," Merle chuckled.

"Her name is Mae," Daryl felt the need to point that out. "You can go and tell Rick I don't think it's such a good idea."

"What do you think the girl will have to say to that? Think she'll agree with you?" Merle laughed. "She's gonna be running for those woods once Rick tells her."

"Rick ain't gonna tell her without talkin' to me first. He wouldn't have asked for my opinion if he didn't care," Daryl said.

"Whatever. The only reason you're getting upset is because you've gotten attached to her and you don't want her to leave. Bad things happen when you let yourself care, little brother. Thought you knew that. Looks like you couldn't get it through your thick skull, huh?" Merle said, taking a look over at Mae. "Don't blame you for getting attached, though. She She's a fine piece of work. Now I know why you volunteered to help her get back on her feet, you sneaky bastard."

"You're disgusting," Daryl said, flinching away from his brother. "Is that all you can think about? She was alone and injured. Her leg wasn't gonna get any better if she just laid around."

"Then she's damn stupid. Should have left her and taught her a lesson," Merle said.

"Yeah, that's real kind of you," Daryl answered, shaking his head.

"Whatever, man. You shouldn't be wasting your time on these people. Why can't we just high tail it out here like I said and-"

"I already told you, we're safe here. These people are my family," Daryl said, getting agitated with his brother.

"I'm your family," Merle growled a little."I'm blood. They're not."

"I know that. But it's about time you accept them as your own too. Can you just try for once?" Daryl said, walking away, leaving Merle to himself.

_Dammit_, Merle thought. Daryl always got the last word in. His brother had the power to make him feel like a load of shit whenever they fought, but Merle would never let him know that._ Screw him_, he thought. He'll let Daryl cool off and try talking to him again when he's not throwing a hissy fit.

Merle gave a look over at that new girl... Mae, was it? He hadn't spoken to her much, but she didn't seem so bad. She was quiet most of the time if she wasn't hanging out with that farmers farmer's daughter and that Chinese kid. Now that she was up and about, he was seeing her around more, and boy, she was fun to look at. An attractive young thing, she was. He could only guess that she was somewhere in her early twenties.

She pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail, gently splashing some water on her face and neck. He could watch that all day, Merle smiled to himself. He saw  
her messing around with her shoes, sitting herself down and taking off the left one. Merle decided to saunter over and see what she was up to.

"Something the matter, missy?" He asked

Mae looked over her shoulder and up at the towering older Dixon, giving a halfway smile.

"These sneakers are falling apart. See?" She lifted up her sneaker, the bottom hanging on by threads. She got up, barefoot now, holding the pair of shoes in hand.

"Looks like I'll just have to grab my boots to run my laps in," Mae continued.

"You do everything my brother tells you?" Merle asked.

Mae laughed, "Well, yeah. I better listen to whatever he says if I want my leg to get better. Why?"

"No reason. Just find it funny that anyone would listen to a word he says. He's a bit slow, if you know what I mean," Merle said, shrugging.

Mae raised a brow, and spoke. "Daryl's kind and he seems fine to me. You should think more highly of your brother. "

He knew he shouldn't have come over here. Now he was getting a damn lecture on how he treats his brother. Merle was hoping she wasn't this smart. He'd go back to looking and enjoying in silence-

"He talks highly of you all the time," Mae said.

Merle looked at her, a little confused, and crossed his arms.

"What'd he say?" Merle asked, not entirely believing her.

"You're a great tracker, a great hunter, and you can kick some serious ass," Mae smiled.

Merle laughed, relaxing a bit. "He said that? Well, it is true. Bet he said I was a stubborn jackass too, hm?"

"He may have, along with some other things," she said.

"Well, I hope those other things don't damage your impression of me," Merle drawled flirtatiously.

"I try not to judge anyone until I know them. So far, you're just the bastard who ripped an arrow out of my leg," Mae smiled at him.

Merle raised a brow at her, grinning, enjoying the fiery confidence she had. Most people are too scared to talk to him, let alone call him a bastard, but the way she said it almost led him to believe she was flirting back with him.

"Don't worry, it's a good impression. And thanks. You know, for the arrow thing," Mae said.

"Don't mention it," he said, slipping in a wink.

Mae smiled shyly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She said, "Better get back inside and change my shoes."

She gave Merle a quick wave before she ran back up to the prison, leaving Merle to watch her go.


	6. Back To The Start

Hello everyone! Here is a nice long chapter for you all :) This one was really fun to write! We get to find out a bit of what happened to Mae as the apocalypse was just starting, and we also have a whole lot of Merle, and he just makes everything better! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day and like always, enjoy!

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**Chapter 6: Back to the Start**

Dinner time rolled around quickly and everyone gathered to enjoy some of the pasta Carol had made. Everyone inhaled it in a matter of minutes. Food was running low again and Rick had been talking about sending a party out either tomorrow or the next day to go look for some food and supplies. Mae volunteered herself to be a part of that group, saying she'd liked to be of more help around the place. Rick gave a look to Daryl.

"You think you're up for a run, Mae?" Rick asked, in front of everyone.

"I think so. Don't you Daryl?" Mae asked, looking at him.

Merle laughed to himself seeing his brother being put on the spot.

"We've only done four weeks of therapy. I think you should wait just a couple more, just to be safe," Daryl said evenly.

"You can put me on watch if you're concerned about me," Mae suggested, but she could tell she wasn't going to be going anywhere.

"I rather you go when you were ready, Mae, instead of risking your life. You've already been a big help around the prison so don't worry," Rick said to her.

She nodded and went back to eating her pasta. Sure, she was a little disappointed, but she understood where they were coming from. In the end she knew they were right. After dinner, Mae helped clean the dishes when Rick came up to her and asked to talk with her. They went into the library where she found Daryl was already waiting for them.

"Everything alright?" Mae asked.

"Everything's fine," Rick said, taking a moment to get his thoughts together. "We found another camp..."

Mae's eyes widened and her heart jumped a little. "And?"

"And it looked as if someone was living there. There was only one tent and a few blankets and a dead fire when we came upon it. We think it might have been abandoned, but we wanted to let you know anyways," Rick said.

Mae nodded in thanks, thinking over what Rick had just said.

"Was there any Walkers nearby?" Mae asked, thinking of the worst.

"No. Looked pretty untouched. Coulda' been there for a couple days, we haven't been in that part of the woods for a week or so, but whoever was camping there just left. Saw some other foot prints around it, like a group passed through," Daryl said.

"Oh my God..." Mae said, sitting herself down. "They could have been taken..."

She tried her best not to freak out, but hearing that they were out there, possibly captured... it sent Mae's heart pounding.

"Listen, we don't even know if it was their camp or not. Me and Daryl will go check and see where the foot prints go and if we find anything, we'll tell you," Rick said.

"Can you..." Mae breathed. "... if they... just... ugh, I don't even know what I'm trying to say right now, I'm sorry..."

Daryl walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Everything's gonna be okay. If they're out there, we'll find 'em," Daryl said.

Mae gave Daryl a weak smile. "Thanks."

-

Later that night, Daryl and Mae sat downstairs and were chatting. The others were about the prison doing their own thing. Judith was crying a bit and Beth was singing her a gentle lullaby that echoed softly against the walls. Mae had her legs crossed on the bench, braiding her hair as Daryl cleaned his crossbow.

"So," Mae said, grinning at Daryl.

"So what?" He asked gruffly, trying to suppress his own smile.

"So... oh, I don't know. Tell me about yourself," Mae said.

"Not much to say," Daryl looked down at his bow.

"I beg to differ," Mae said.

She was such a fairy, Daryl thought. So bright and airy. That twinkling smile never left her face.

"What do you miss most?" Mae asked.

What did he miss most? He missed not fighting for his life every damn day, eating good food, even watching television. He missed the simple things. He thought hard of what he would kill a whole hoard of Walkers for, searching his mind for the things he enjoyed.

"I miss my dog," Daryl said. "I lost him during the beginning. Got chased off by a bunch of Walkers and never came back."

"What was his name?"

"Chance. "

Mae smiled, "Like Chance in... Homeward Bound?"

Daryl grinned, giving a nod.

"That's the sweetest thing. I loved that movie. Always made me cry," Mae said.

Him too, but he'd never admit that out loud. One time Merle caught him crying during the end of that movie and gave him an earful for it. Merle then ripped it from the VCR and went outside and burned the tape.

"What about you?" Daryl asked. "What do you miss?"

"Oh gosh, so many things..." Mae said, looking up at the ceiling as if it held her memories. "I miss the beach. Yeah, I miss that..."

"Why?" Daryl wondered.

"I don't know. I've always loved the beach. My family had a house down there and we'd spend the whole summer just lying on the sand and going on the board walk and swimming in the ocean. It always gave me peace, just sitting on the warm sand, watching the waves roll in and out, washing up shells and other things. I wanted to live there when...never mind. It's not possible now anyways," Mae said, thinking of how the beaches were probably flooded with Walkers now.

Daryl wondered what Mae was gonna say, but he took a good guess. He always thought the beach was just an overcrowded tanning bed full of disgusting foods and fast rides. He never was at the beach before, and never thought of going, but Mae made it sound special and much more appealing.

"You two still down here?" Carol came down the steps, smiling.

Mae gave a welcoming smile as Carol approached them. "Yep, couldn't sleep yet. How's Judith?"

"Just fell asleep, thank goodness. Tummy troubles, poor thing," Carol said. "I was thinking you could help me clear out some of the Walkers by the fence tomorrow, Mae. Get you back in action," Carol said, hoping to put Mae in good spirits.

"That sounds great! What time?" Mae asked.

"I was thinking after breakfast," Carol said.

"But I won't be here then, I'll be out with Rick," Daryl said.

"It's fine Daryl, you won't need to be. Mae will be perfectly safe behind the fence," Carol reassured him. "And Hershel will be here incase anything happens."

Mae chuckled as Daryl sat there disgruntled as he cleaned up his bow.

"I won't hurt my leg. I'll be extra careful, Daryl," Mae promised.

Daryl collected his bow and slung it over his back. "Yeah, don't come limping to me when something goes wrong."

"Night Daryl."

"Whatever."

"Damn it all to hell!"

Everyone's head shot towards the front door as Merle came busting through, cursing up and down, shouting as if he got his other arm cut off.

"What's wrong?" Carol asked.

Merle clutched his right arm, blood soaking through his fingers and running down his arm and onto his prosthetic. He came stomping down the steps, Daryl setting his bow back on the table and Mae stood up tying her braid off quickly to see what the matter was.

"I was coming back in the fence and was 'bout ready to tie it up when a Walker came outta nowhere, grabbed my knife here and pulled it right through the fence opening. One of the wires caught my arm and gave me this ugly thing," Merle said removing his hand to reveal a very deep gushing slice in his arm.

Mae gasped a little and ran straight for the first aid kit under the cabinets in the makeshift kitchen they had.

"Tried to chomp the metal right off this baby, the bastard," Merle said, referring to his homemade hand. "Stabbed the thing in the skull till it was nothing but a sloppy mess."

"Ugh, thanks for sharing," Carol said.

Mae hurried over setting the first aid kit on the table and looking expectantly at Merle.

"Go on, sit," she said.

"What? I can fix it-"

"Merle, sit your ass down. You only got one hand," Daryl said.

Merle grumbled an insult under his breath as she shuffled over and sat down. Mae took a cloth, dabbed some alcohol on it and reached for Merle's arm.

"This may hurt a bit," Mae warned him, but Merle simply rolled his eyes.

She gently laid the cloth down on the wound, and Merle flinched back.

"What did you put on that? Acid? Get away," Merle bellowed, waving Mae away.

Carol stood by; watching Mae, hoping Merle had not frightened her with his loud rudeness. Mae looked up at Merle, taking his arm again in her grasp.

"I told you it was going to hurt," she said, a grin pulling slightly at the corners of her mouth.

"And you're gonna do it again? Dammit girl, get off-"

"Stop crying like a baby, Merle, and get over it," Daryl said.

"Speaking of baby..." Carol said, hearing Judith's grumpy cries in the distance. "I better check on her. "

Carol quickly hurried up the stairs, leaving Mae and Daryl to tend to Merle.

"Come on now," Mae beckoned sweetly, her hand, now covered in Merle's blood, outstretched for his arm.

Merle gave Mae a callous grimace and placed his arm in her hand once more.

"Go get me some smokes, would you little brother?" Merle breathed heavily as Mae re-wet the cloth in her hand.

"Fine," Daryl sighed. "You alright, Mae?"

"Yeah," Mae laughed. "I'll be fine."

Daryl hurried off just as Mae was going in for the kill again.

"Damn, stop it!" He yelled at Mae, pulling his arm away. "That hurts!"

"Maybe if you hold still, it won't hurt as much!" Mae said, surprisingly sharply to him.

"Hey, watch how you speak when you-"

"Do you want to bleed out, or do you want me to help you?"

She looked at him, hand open, and not a single damn given if she offended him or not. She raised a brow, and he placed his arm back into her hand. _Who was this girl? _he thought, looking at her strangely. There was a whole lot more behind her twinkling eyes and soft complexion then Merle realized.

Mae quietly pressed the cloth onto his arm, causing Merle to growl in pain, but after a few seconds, the pain turned into a cool and soothing sensation.

"See? Wasn't so bad, was it?" Mae smiled up at him.

He glanced at her, not saying a word. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction that she was right. She smiled anyways, knowing that she was. He wanted to slap that grin right off of her pretty mouth, but at the same time, he wanted to look at it and began to wonder... Whoa there, Merle, he thought. Let's not get carried away. He was still annoyed with her.

"You need stitches," Mae said.

"The hell did you just say?"

Mae let out a laugh, reaching for the needle and thread.

"Honestly, I don't know how you cut your own hand off, yet you're freaking out over stitches," she said, oblivious to Merle's staring.

"I am not freaking out, little missy. I don't like pain, and without a drink or a smoke in me, it's a little more difficult to handle. I was half way to looney ville when I cut my hand off, anyways. I didn't think about it, I just did it. It was either that or get eaten by Walkers, and I sure as hell wasn't gonna become somebody's meal. Hurt like a bitch, but I was the only one I could yell at for my pain. Actually, I think I was yellin' at Rick most of the time," Merle said.

"Why at Rick?" Mae asked.

"Well sweet pea, he was the one who cuffed me to the roof. Bet they didn't tell you that detail, hm?" Merle said with a sigh.

"Well, did you deserve it?" Mae asked.

"What?"

"Did you deserve it? You know, did Rick cuff you for a good reason?" Mae asked.

"Ain't nothin' good about cuffin' a man to a roof and leaving him for dead," Merle said. "I pissed off this black guy and maybe threatened him a little..."

Mae gave a little chuckle.

"What are you laughing at?" Merle asked.

"Nothing!" she smiled.

"Well stop it. It's annoying," Merle said.

"Alrighty. Lay your arm straight out on the table now," Mae told him, not affected by his rude comment.

He did so as she threaded the needle. She scooted closer and wrapped her left arm around his, getting a good hold on it, leaning down and eyeing where to make the first stitch.

"You ever done this before?" He asked as he watched her.

Mae looked up, giving him an amusing smile.

"Don't worry. I know how to sew. "

For some reason, Merle laughed at this and she giggled along with him. She reassumed her position and placed the needle onto his skin. "But no, I haven't actually. "

"Wait, what-"

Mae shoved the needle into his skin and pushed it through to the other side.

"Argh! The hell, man!" Merle bellowed.

"Come on, breath now. One, two, three, it'll all be over," Mae said.

She shoved the needle in again.

"I swear, if you mess these up and I have to get 'em done again, I'm going to- Argh! Dammit!"

And again.

"You better have been joking about not knowing-"

And again.

"Put that needle in me one more time, missy and I swear I'll-"

And again.

"This is pay back for the arrow, isn't it?"

"See. All done!" Mae smiled.

Merle looked down at his arm to see a nice row of stitches across his bicep.

"You talk a lot," Mae said, reaching for the white wrap bandages. "And yes, it was pay back."

"At least I got it over with in a couple of damn second!" Merle said.

"How else would you want me to do this? This takes time. I can't just whip out a wand and magically do it in less than three seconds!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did," Merle said, giving a slight laugh.

Mae began to wrap Merle's wound with the gauze, laying it smoothly across his arm and wrapping it around and around the cover the whole wound.

"Well nurse, will I live?" Merle asked, looking up at her.

Mae smiled, before saying. "Yes, you'll live, but you must do one thing to make sure of it."

"What's that?"

"Learn to control your temper," Mae said, patting him on the shoulder after she finished binding the wound. "Or the needle will be stuck into something else."

Merle smiled up at her. Damn, this girl was as cute as a button. Sure, irritating a bit, but he could tell she was a real doll. There wouldn't be any harm in flirting with her. She'd probably say something oblivious in return to his attempts anyways.

"You always this good with your hands, darlin'?" He asked as she packed up the first aid kit.

"Well, I told you I know how to sew. I also know how to knit. I can make anything from a hat to a scarf, or mittens."

Yep. Totally oblivious. Merle smirked.

"So you're the artsy type, huh?" Merle commented.

"Is that a bad thing?" Mae asked, a laugh rippling through her soft voice.

"I don't know. Never really affiliated myself with one before," Merle said.

"Well, I guess I'm not that artsy any more. Those stitches were the closest thing to art I've done in a long time," Mae said.

Merle tried to stretch out his arm but finding it was too difficult, he just rested it on his leg.

"And I was kidding before," Mae said suddenly. "I have actually done stitches. I worked as a nurse in a hospital for a while with my mom. She was a doctor there."

Thank God, Merle thought. He was hoping some girl wasn't sticking a needle in him just because she knew how to make a scarf.

"So you two saw it all go down? The infection and everything?" Merle asked, not really knowing why he was asking when he was so damn tired.

"Just my mom. I had quit a couple months prior to the whole outbreak. I remember the first day I heard about it. My mom came home and she just stood in the doorway, staring at the ground. I asked her if everything was alright, you know, I thought she might have lost a patient but she shook her head and began looking around the house with a certain sad look in her eyes. She walked over to me and hugged me. She began crying, and that's when I knew something was really wrong," Mae began. "I kept asking her to tell me what happened and at first all she could say was, "I just can't believe it, Mae". We sat down and she told me what happened. One of the other doctor's patients died, one who had a horrible bite wound on his leg. None of the doctors really believed him when he said a little girl came out from under his car as he was getting gas and bit him right through his jeans and everything.

"When she told me... when she told me the man had come back to life and bit one of the doctors, I didn't believe it myself. "Back to life?" I asked her. She nodded saying he was dead for ten minutes and then suddenly rose off the bed, looking more sickly than he had before. His eyes had changed and he could no longer speak. He wouldn't respond to reasoning and just attacked his doctor. He was still hooked up to the heart monitor, but as he was up walking around, biting his doctor on the shoulder, the heart rate continued to flat line.

"A couple police officers had to come in and take him down and rushed the doctor who had gotten bit to the emergency room. My mom was smart. The next day she quit and went to a camping store and practically bought it out. She called over the entire family, distributed the camping gear, filled backpacks with dry foods and water, and told everyone to head down to my Uncle Charlie's house down here. He owned a big house that practically the entire family could live in. My mom knew a lot more about what was going on than what she was telling everyone. I guess she didn't want us to get scared...I'm sorry, I don't why I told you all that. Probably are wondering when I'm gonna shut up."

Merle shook his head and stood up. He found her story very interesting, actually. No matter how tired and in pain he actually was, he did want to hear it. He could see tears welling up in her eyes, but she forced them back every time they threatened to fall.

"Sounds like you had a good momma. Knew exactly what to do," Merle said. "Is she...?"

"Dead?" Mae questioned. "I don't know. It was only a couple weeks in as we were staying at my uncle's house that things were getting really bad. Everyone was dying, people were getting bit left and right, and everyone in town was going crazy. During the night, this one group of crazy people came to set fire to the whole town. My Uncle Charlie's house caught fire and we all freaked. Everyone was running around, people I didn't know shouting and crying all around me. We tried to stay together as best as we could, but chaos causes confusion. I got separated from my mom and my brother. Everyone was hopping into cars and leaving... That's when my cousin Audrey grabbed me and pulled me into a car with her. We drove out of there as fast as we could. That was the last time my family was all together. "

"Must have been one hell of a night," Merle said.

Mae nodded and quickly wiped under her eye. She noticed that Merle stood up and was surprised when he patted her on the shoulder as he passed by her. He whispered, "Hey, thanks for the stitches, missy. Did a pretty good job."

Merle was trying to comfort her in the only way Merle Dixon knew how to. He continued, "You should get some sleep now, rest that mouth of yours."

Mae laughed, nodding in agreement

"Hey," Mae said as Merle was making his way up the steps. He turned back and looked over at her. "Thanks for listening. Rest those ears of yours."

Merle nodded and disappeared. Once he was gone, Mae looked down at her hands and realized they were covered in Merle's blood. She hurried over to the sink and washed it off as quickly. When she walked back over to put the first aid kit away, she noticed Daryl had come back. He looked confused and amused at the same time.

"I thought you must have fallen asleep. You didn't come back," Mae said.

"I was too busy enjoyin' hearin' my brother whine like a little girl getting stitches," Daryl said.

Mae laughed, "He does put up quite a fight."

Mae notice Daryl was thinking something over. He sat staring at the floor, not saying much.

"What is it?' Mae asked.

Daryl let out a laugh is disbelief. "Nothing. Just, my brother normally doesn't let a moment go by in which his voice isn't heard. Doesn't let the other people do the talking."

"I'm just as surprised as you are. I thought he'd leave once I finished. Even if I was torturing him, it was kind of him to stay and listen," Mae said.

"Weird is what it was," Daryl said.

Mae smiled and paused next to Daryl. "You goin' up?"

He nodded, getting up. "Yeah. Time to hit the hay."


	7. Pushed

**Chapter 8: Pushed**

The next morning, Mae was up working out in her cell. She thought since Daryl was going to gone for most of the day, she might as well get some exercises in on her own. She was doing some crunches when Daryl walked past her cell.

"Gonna get going now," he said.

"Really?" Mae got up and followed him out. "How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"All depends on the trail. Could be a couple hours," Daryl said.

Mae nodded as they descended the steps and walked out into the courtyard.

"Just, be careful. Don't go somewhere dangerous if the trail leads there. I don't want you or Rick risking your lives for nothing," Mae said, fear creeping into her heart.

"It's not nothing. It's your family. We'll do our best. You be safe too," Daryl said, pausing as he stood before her.

Mae wondered if she should hug him before he left, if he would be okay with it or not. She cared whether he came back or not, and a hug would reassure her that he would. Still, she didn't want to push her boundaries. Daryl didn't typically seem like a huggy person. He patted her on the shoulder and gave a smile.

"See ya later," he said, walking toward to the gate with Rick.

Mae then went to seek out Carol. She found her over by the fences with Michonne, pipe and sword in hand.

"Glad you could make it," Carol smiled handing Mae a jagged pipe.

"Glad to be here," Mae said, giving a wave to Michonne who gave a smile back.

The three worked for a while at the fences, clearing up the large build-up of Walkers that had appeared overnight. It wasn't a neat job, but it was pumping up Mae's adrenaline back up. She felt loads better by knocking in a few Walker skulls. She jabbed one threw the mouth, causing it's already decaying jaw to fall off along with its tongue, spurting out a dark mess upon her arm before it collapsed on the ground.

"Ugh..." Mae moaned in disgust. "That's lovely..."

"Be thankful it wasn't guts pouring out on you," Michonne said.

"Eh, yeah. Hopefully I'll be able to avoid that," Mae said, picking off a few unnamable chunks off her arms.

"So did everything go okay with Merle last night? Wasn't too nasty to you, was he?" Carol asked.

"Well, a little, but he was just in pain. Had to give him stitches, but everything else went fine. He seems okay," Mae said.

"Merle Dixon is not okay," Michonne said.

"What do you mean?" Mae asked.

"Man's a ticking time bomb of rage. He's irrational and dangerous, not to mention ignorant and stubborn," Michonne said. "If I were you, I'd stay away from him."

"Daryl still trusts him, so there must be some good in him," Mae said, shrugging.

"He's his brother, he has no choice but to trust him. Daryl may trust him, but he also thinks Merle's an asshole," Michonne said.

Mae laughed. "I know. He told me."

Mae jabbed a Walker in the head, but somehow her pipe got stuck in its skull and wouldn't come back out. She pulled and pulled, but it wouldn't come out.

"Try pushing it down, it might let loose," Carol said down the line.

Mae tried, but it still wouldn't budge; only making horrible squishing noises.

"Come on, man!" she grunted, putting a foot against the gate, pulling with all her might.

"Might have to lose it!" Michonne called down to Mae, a few feet away.

"No, no... I got it!" Mae said, pulling and pulling...

Mae let out a yell suddenly when a Walker poked its arm through the fence and grabbed hold of her foot that was propped up against the fence. She tried to shake it off, but it was ravenous and relentless. If she were to let go of the pipe, she would fall back, but she could certainly try and trust her bad leg for support, although she didn't know how good of an idea it would be...

"Hey Carol!" Mae called over urgently to her.

Suddenly another Walker grabbed ahold of her shirt and pulled her towards the gate, another arm reaching for her head.

"Carol!" She screamed, and Carol tried to race towards her.

Shit, shit, _shit_. Mae freaked out as Walker hands sprouted out on all sides of her. They lazily grabbed for her, gnashing their teeth up against the gate. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a blade sliced through the Walker's wrist that was holding onto her foot. Mae stumbled back onto her feet, trying to twist the Walkers hand off of her shirt when she realized Merle was right next to her... he was the one saving her.

"Let go, you bastard!" Merle growled as he stabbed the one holding onto Mae's shirt. It crumpled to the ground, releasing Mae. She stumbled, unable to keep her balance and fell on the ground.

"Mae!" Carol yelled, running towards her with Michonne following.

Merle kneeled down next to her, looking her over for bite wounds. "You alright, missy?"

Mae had to snap herself out of shock and nodded her head to Carol and Merle, affirming that she was fine. Swallowing hard, Mae tried to clear her head, but her nerves were too shaken. Her heart was racing and the heat from the sun felt like it was melting her skin off. She could still feel the Walker's decaying hands on her, their growls so close to her ears...

"Mae? Mae, are you sure you're alright?" Carol asked

Mae sat up trying to catch her breath, flinching at the pain she felt tightening around her arrow wound. She had fallen on it, and now it hurt like a bitch.

"Yeah," she said, breathlessly. "Just landed on my leg wrong. It hurts..."

"Did they scratch, or bite you?" Carol asked.

"No, no... oh God, I hope not..." Mae looked down at her shirt and saw four long shreds threw it, but no blood...no scratches. She sighed with relief.

"Lucky as hell," Merle grinned.

"Can you walk?" Carol asked.

"I'll try. I don't think I-" Mae's knee buckled beneath her, her healing wound throbbing intensely. Carol and Merle caught her arms, setting her down easily.

"Dammit..." Mae said, shaking her head. She felt like crying. All that hard work and now she might have damaged her leg all over again.

"Here," Merle said, slipping his arms around her and picking her up. She slung her arms around his neck, all too surprised that he was doing this. "Hold tight, darlin'."

"But your arm-"Mae said.

"Forget my arm, its fine," he grumbled, making sure his arms had a good hold on her.

"Sure you're gonna be alright?" Carol asked.

"Dammit, I'll be fine, woman," Merle said, walking towards the gate entrance, leaving Carol and Michonne to themselves.

Mae felt incredibly small in Merle's arms. She didn't realize how massive he really was and how strong he could be. He heaved a breath here and there going up the slope, but otherwise, he barely broke a sweat over it. Mae felt an odd sense of comfort as he walked her up to the prison; it was as if there was a blend of safety and ease, but it quickly was overrun by the overall embarrassment she was feeling. Mae looked down into her lap, trying to control her own anger towards herself. Stupid, was all she kept repeating. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

Merle carried Mae up to her room and laid her down on her bed. He stood by and watched as she fixed herself and propped her leg up with a pillow.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah..." She whispered, still fixing the pillow.

Merle still stood in her cell. This girl wasn't fine. He could feel how tense she was against him and how short her breathing was. She was far from fine. When he didn't leave, Mae looked up at him, wishing he would go away so she could be alone.

"How's your leg?" He asked.

Mae laid her hand over the wound. It was hot and it hurt. She hoped she didn't break any of the stitches. She felt a tear run down her cheek, and she wiped it away quickly.

"It's fine," she sniffed.

"Bullshit," Merle said.

She looked up at him, wondering what he wanted her to say. She just wanted to be alone for the moment, but he wasn't letting her. She shielded her face away from him as her lip began to quiver. Tears fell freely, and suddenly Merle was put in an awkward situation.

"Hey," he said to her. "Cryin' ain't gonna fix nothin'. Whatchu' even cryin' for? Got nothin' to be sad about, missy."

Mae sobbed a little bit harder at his words. There was a lot to be sad about; she just didn't feel any of it before until now.

"Hey, I said stop it now, you hear me? Cryin' ain't gonna do you no good!" Merle said kneeling down before her.

She wanted to yell at him to go away, but couldn't find it in her to actually do it. It's not that she was mad at him; she just didn't want to listen to anybody right now. Mae longed for peace and quiet to just scream and cry. She hated that she hurt her leg, and that she was stupid enough to hurt it a second time, and most of all, that she was separated from Max and Audrey. She missed them... she missed them so much. She hadn't been away from family this entire time. Now, Mae felt lost and confused.

"You gonna tell me why your acting like this?" Merle asked.

"I miss my family, okay!" Mae sobbed. "I miss having them around me, being with my family. Every day I'm not looking for them is another day they could be dead or dying, and I can't do anything about it! I'm just sitting here, while they could be out searching for me, risking their lives trying to find me. I'm not doing anything. I've done nothing!" Mae said.

Merle understood the importance of family and how much this girl was probably hurting. He felt the same way when he gave up looking for his brother. Every day he wondered if he should keep going, if his brother even wanted to be found or not. There wasn't a day that passed by that Merle didn't want to go out and look for Daryl. He hated himself for giving up. He knew this girl was made out of the same tough stuff he was. She was just a young thing, her emotions high and probably scared to death. Merle suddenly respected this girl. She could have totally forgot about her cousin and deemed her as dead the moment she came upon her camp and she was missing. Mae was in a new, safer, stronger group, yet she still wanted to go out and find those that she called her family, even though there was a slim chance that she'd be able to find them. Mae had nerve, and that was hard to find in most girls her age. Barely into her twenties and she had the guts to go out on her own in this dangerous world to find the people she loved.

"I want you to listen to me. Hey, look at me," Merle said, looking right in her tear stained eyes as he sat down upon her desk. "You wanna go out there now lookin' for your group; go ahead, that's fine. Just so you know that if you do, you'll be dead by the end of the night. You're blamin' yourself for things you can't help right now, and your being a real dumb ass if you think you're doing nothin'. You could not even give a shit about them anymore, but look at you! Now stop your cryin' for God sakes."

Mae wiped her eyes, taking in what Merle just said to her. In her heart, she knew he was right. It made her suddenly wonder about Merle Dixon and his character. He was as hard as titanium. Not a single word anyone sad to him, judging, hurtful, or bad could pierce his shell or change his mind, but he certainly had the power to persuade you to change yours. He'd lock you in with his iron grip and sooth you with his charming voice and you'd be helpless to resist. Mae wondered why on earth he was helping, or even talking to her. He could have left after she broke down in front of him, but he stayed. He stayed for some odd reason.

"Is that how you found Daryl?" Mae asked, remembering Daryl telling her that he and his brother were separated for a year after the roof incident, reuniting only recently.

Merle grinned, standing up from sitting on the desk.

"No, missy," Merle said, nearing the cell door. "He found me."

* * *

Merle saves the day! Yay! :) I hope you all are having a wonderful day and that you've enjoyed this chapter! I'd love to hear from you all, so leave a review and tell me what you think! More chapters coming soon!


	8. Strange Creatures

**Chapter 8: Strange Creatures**

When Daryl returned home later in the evening, Carol informed him of what happened at the fences. Mae knew there was no escaping it or avoiding it, but she thanked her lucky stars that she didn't do any damage to her leg. She had Hershel check it over, finding that she didn't break any stitches, only upsetting the wound slightly. Hurt more than just slightly, but after an hour or two of resting it, it didn't hurt anymore. Mae was put in a better mood after that, especially after talking with Merle. She needed that talk. She needed to know that she was doing all that she could, and that's all that mattered.

Daryl ran into his brother on his way up to see Mae.

"Not even gonna say hello to your brother?" Merle said, slapping Daryl across the head.

"I need to check on Mae," was Daryl's response.

"Leave her be, she's fine. Got scared, that's all. No harm done to her," Merle said.

"What do you mean?" Daryl asked. "And since when do you care?"

"I don't. The hell, man? You tell me to change and fit in, and then you go yelling at me when I try. I helped her out, slapped some sense into her. Not actually, okay! Didn't harm your precious girl."

"She ain't mine. And I'm sorry. Glad you started takin' to the group," Daryl said. "What'd you tell her?"

"Told her she should stop worrying about stupid things and get her head straight before she kills herself," Merle gave a rough version of his chat with  
Mae.

"Sure as hell were direct there, weren't you?" Daryl rolled his eyes.

"Ain't no use beating around the bush, little brother," Merle said. "I think she learned her lesson."

Learned her lesson indeed. She also learned something new about Merle Dixon: that he wasn't as big of a jerk as everyone made him out to be. Daryl gave his brother a nod and continued up the steps. Merle headed outside to keep watch with Carol. Honestly, he'd rather be alone on watch, but it was Rick's planning and he dared not go against the psycho cop's decision.

Merle entered the watchtower to find Carol already there. That instantly put off his mood. He didn't feel like talking or hearing anyone else chattering in his ear. Carol looked up and smiled at him.

_Oh jeez, here we go._

"What you did today was really brave," Carol said.

"Ain't nothin' brave about it. I did what I did, and that's all. You couldn't move your ass fast enough to get to her anyways."

Carol tried to ignore his forced insult upon her and tried her best to think good of him, just like Mae had said.

"Well, it was. You didn't have to, but you did. I'm sure Mae is extremely grateful," Carol said.

What was this woman trying to get at? He didn't care what anyone thought of him and certainly didn't care if she thought he was brave or not. All he had come down to the fences for was to have someone open up the gate so he could search somewhere nearby for a pack of smokes. His own stash was getting low and he thought he'd go on an outing, but that changed when he saw the Greyson girl getting grabbed by the Walkers. Was he gonna let this girl get chomped on? No. That would be wrong. Any right person would know that.

"I don't care what the hell she is, just didn't want to bury anybody today," Merle said, looking out over the forest. "Kid should be more careful next time before she screws herself over. Stupid-"

"She thinks good of you, you know," Carol said, defensively. "Doesn't say one bad thing about you, even after all you say, all the  
things she hears, she thinks you're just as good as anyone else in the group. I hope that means something to you."

They both were silent for the rest of their time together in the watch tower. Merle was set to thinking while Carol brewed with anger towards Merle. She hoped her words meant something. At the end of all things, he should be praying to have someone on his side. Mae was a sweet girl. Never said one bad thing about anybody or complained. Carol only knew a little bit about Mae. Daryl would tell her things here and there. He always spoke well of her. He cared  
about her. Carol saw that from the start. Thicker than thieves and as close as brother and sister. _It would do Daryl good_ _having someone to trust and care  
for like that_, Carol thought. She already saw that his mood had lightened up ever since Mae had come around. Mae had an aura around her that made any  
room ten times brighter just by walking in it, making everyone around her a little bit happier. Carol hoped those powers would work on Merle. God knows he  
needs to be a little less grouchy.

Up in the cell block, Mae was sitting and reading a book Maggie had brought up for her a while ago. Pride and Prejudice. She'd read it many times before and  
was happy to revisit something from her past that had once delighted her. She was about to flip one of its pages when Daryl appeared in her doorway.

"Hey!" Mae said, jumping off of her bed and giving Daryl a hug. She was so delighted to see him and that he had come back safe and sound. To her surprise, he hugged her back, happy to see her as well. "I was beginning to wonder when you'd return. How'd everything go?"

"Fine, I guess. We had a pretty good sight on the trail. Looked like a group of seven or so. Wasn't Walker tracks, but we lost them when we got to the road. Couldn't find much else," Daryl said.

"How far away from here is the road?" Mae asked.

"Couple miles or so, a bit of a drive out. They did a lot of walking," Daryl said.

"Do you... do you think it was them? That they met up with another group and are still okay?" Mae asked.

"Could be a possibility. There are a number of places they could have gone whether or not they're with a group," Daryl said. "Would they have joined a group if asked?"

"Max was never up for it," Mae said, remember her last run in with a group. "But Audrey was always suggesting it, saying it would be better for us. Maybe Max gave into her and they joined one. Listen, I really appreciate you and Rick doing this for me, but it's taking your time away from the group, and I don't want to cause any struggles than needn't be. When my leg gets fully healed, I'll go out myself and scout around for them. I'd prefer it that way."

"You sure? I don't mind doing-"

"It's sweet of you, but I've made my mind up about it. If anyone's going to be finding Audrey and Max, it's gonna be me. I just have to be patient till I can do it," Mae said with a luminance smile.

Daryl smiled and nodded in agreement. Whatever Merle had told her, it sure as hell worked. Mae seemed focused and back on track with herself then previous, and Daryl was glad to see that. He knew what it was like to be alone and without family, and now that he had his, he wanted to help Mae find hers.

"Speaking of your leg, I heard what happened earlier by the fences," Daryl said, arms crossed. "Care to explain?"

"Alright, Mr. Know-it-all! You were right! I should have waited and rested till I was ready. I know that now," Mae said, teasing him as she sat back down.

"You didn't get hurt, did you?" He asked.

"I just fell on my leg, but your brother helped me back up, and I saw Hershel. I irritated it, that's all," she said, rubbing her leg just a little.

"Heard he talked with you. Wasn't too harsh was he?"

"Oh no, he was fine. I mean, it sounded harsh, but he meant well," Mae said. "Has he...has he always been like that? Harsh, I mean."

Daryl grinned. "Pretty much, I don't think there's a soft spot on that man for anyone or anything."

"Well, he's got one for you at least," Mae said. "You two are brothers. You can hate and love each other at the same time."

"Was it like that for you and your brother?" Daryl asked.

"Me and Don?" Mae said. "I guess, but I never hated him. Not really. Just disappointed in him most of the time. It was for selfish reasons anyways. I'd be mad at him because he'd choose to go out partying with his friends instead of hanging out with me. It sounds stupid, now that I'm older, but-"

"But it still hurts. I know. Merle was the same way," Daryl said. "He'd leave and wouldn't come back for weeks. Didn't tell anybody where he was going, not even me. Come home high as a kite, gettin' into fights with the old man, drinkin' and leaving again. "

Mae's heart tugged on Daryl's words as they fell in so closely with her own. They both seemed to have the same brotherly problem, except Mae couldn't fix  
hers. She had no idea where Don was or if he was even alive still. She would never tell him how she really felt, how she cried all those nights alone in her  
bedroom as her father got drunk and left her by herself to go to the bars. How she waited up all night for her mother to come home till she was finally able to sleep. How she tried calling him thousands of times, but he would never return her calls...

"Yeah, it does hurt. At least Merle had intentions of coming back. Don never did. I guess he felt guilty enough to stop over during the holidays, but that was it," Mae said. "God, I miss him..."

Daryl patted her arm and made a motion for the cell door. "Why don't you get cleaned up before dinner? You look horrible."

Daryl smirked as Mae ruffled his hair. She stood up and set her book on the desk.

"Thanks Dixon. You know how to make a girl feel good about herself!"


	9. Anywhere But Here

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful week! Here's a new chapter for you all. Its a small one, but its focused on a new area and some new characters! I love hearing feedback from all of you and to see what you guys think, so don't be shy and drop a review! Enjoy the story! :)

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**Chapter 9: Anywhere But Here**

A soft breeze rolled over the small town of Woodbury. The town's folk went about their day as normal, closed off from the horrors of the outside world, and stuck to their daily routines. It had been a quite morning, not many Biter's roaming around outside of the wall. Although the silence was calming, it was mostly a cover up. People were still a bit frazzled by the invasion they were under just a couple weeks ago. Many were having doubts that Woodberry could undergo another attack and come out okay again. Fear was struck into their hearts by a group the Governor made clear to them that they were never to help or aid under any circumstances. No one dared to mention the word prison, or the name Rick Grimes in town.

No one, except Andrea.

She was busy trying to get the Governor to listen to her, to call off his plans of running Rick and everyone out of the prison. She even tried talking to Milton Mamet, but he only warned her that things would get worse if she persisted the subject with the Governor any further. Andrea's suspicions had grown and she wanted to find Rick. She wanted to find him and see what was going on. She was surrounded by people who had no idea who their "Governor" really was. There was one boy who had his suspicions as well, that Woodberry wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

He wanted out of that town, but he had only one person stopping him.

"Please, can we talk about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about! I told you that!"

"Yes there is! I don't understand why your being so stubborn!"

"I'm not being stubborn, I'm being reasonable."

"You're ignoring me and you're ignoring everything that happened over this past month. I don't know why you don't want to talk about it, why you don't want to do something about it-"

"There is nothing to say, Max!" The young blonde yelled at her boyfriend. "Why can't you just leave it alone?"

"Because I can't! I can't go on living here knowing that Mae is out there somewhere, possibly in danger or dying. I don't know how you can forget her so easily! She's your cousin, Audrey!" Max said.

"I haven't! I haven't forgotten her. There hasn't been a day when I haven't thought about her, and how much I regret sending her out alone in the woods that day. You think I don't regret it? "Audrey said, tears brimming in her eyes as she kept her voice down low so passers-by wouldn't hear her.

"She would have wanted this for us, Max. She would have wanted us to be safe here in this town, safe from Biter's and other gangs."

"You talk as if she's dead. " Max looked at Audrey, appalled that she was speaking in such away. "And do you hear yourself? You're calling them Biter's now?"

"Do you honestly think she could have survived out there by herself? Better to accept it than telling ourselves a lie," Audrey said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Max took a step back, shaking his head in disbelief.

"No, you're the one telling yourself a lie. Honestly Audrey, have you lost all sense of faith? Mae's alive, and she's waiting for us. She's out there looking for us, and you'd rather take the easy way out and stay here and be comfortable while Mae is out there, most likely lost and suffering!"

"Don't talk to me like that!" Audrey said, crossing her arms as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I don't know how else to talk to you, Audrey! You're honestly starting to scare me, honey. Ever since we've got here, you're ignoring what's really going on in the world. I just don't understand how you could not care anymore," Max said, his voice quivering as he looked at the girl he loved; at the girl he thought he knew.

"It's hard caring anymore. Once you start caring, the more it hurts once that thing you cared about is gone. I don't want to hurt anymore, Max. I've come to face the facts that Mae is more likely dead than alive. I can't believe in a false hope, and I can't have my heart break again. "

Audrey ran off down the street, leaving Max by himself on the sidewalk. He ran a hand through his messy brown curls and sighed, leaning against the brick wall of an old pharmacy. What was he going to do?, he found himself asking over and over. He could leave Audrey here and go look for Mae himself, but he knew Audrey would never forgive him if he returned without Mae, or never returned at all. He couldn't get Audrey to leave, and he didn't blame her. Woodberry looked like a great town, but there was something wrong with it. The entire town felt like a façade, holding some dark secret it didn't want you to know about.

And the Governor just rubbed Max the wrong way. His first encounter with him was the Governor and his men drawing guns on him and Audrey in the woods. It was most likely Audrey's talking that saved them from being shot on sight, but Max had a feeling he'd get more than just a bullet to the head if he tried to leave or confront the Governor.

Max tilted his head up towards the sky and let out a heavy sigh. What was he going to do?

"Hey? You alright?"

Max looked down, finding a blonde woman, perhaps in her late thirties, standing in front of him. He had seen her a few times around town. She had been around before Audrey and him had come to Woodberry. He'd seen her around the Governor a lot lately, which made him think that she might not be so trustworthy.

"Yeah...Yeah, I'm fine..." Max said, looking down the street Audrey had run down.

"Sounded like you and your friend were having a fight," the woman said.

Max looked at the woman strangely and crossed his arms, making sure he kept the distance between them far apart.

"Sorry," the woman apologized. " That's probably personal...I'm Andrea, by the way."

She held out her hand in front of Max, waiting for him to shake it. He slowly took her hand and shook it. Andrea smiled.

"Max," he said with a slight nod.

"You're new here too, right? Thinking of staying?" Andrea asked. "I only ask because you and your friend haven't moved out of the temporary shelter yet."

"Her name's Audrey. She's my girlfriend. And no, I don't want to stay, but she wants to. Her cousin is out there and we need to be looking for her, but she thinks she's dead. I don't know how to get her to listen to me," Max said.

"What's her cousins name?"

"Mae. Mae Greyson," Max said. " Do you know her?"

"No. Sorry," Andrea said. " How do you know Mae is still alive? How do you know Audrey isn't right and that she is dead?"

"She's not dead," Max said, his jaw tightening. "Mae's strong enough to handle herself out there on her own. It's just leaving her alone too long is what I'm worried about."

"Where did you last her?" Andrea asked.

"In the woods not far from here. She was out scoping there area, trying to find food while me and Audrey stayed back at the camp. I shouldn't have let her go alone, but she persisted. An hour later a small group of the dead were passing by us. Once they spotted us, we knew we had to make a run for it. There was too many of them for us to handle and we were too weak, so we headed across the river. We were going to come looking for her the next day, but that's when we ran into the Governor and his guys," Max said, regretting his decisions all the more now that he said them out loud. "We should have never come here. We should have kept looking."

Andrea saw how much this boy was beating himself up as he explained his situation. It sure wasn't an easy one, and it was full of a lot of "what ifs", but Max saw it clearly in one way: Mae was out there, alive, and Audrey had given up on her. She didn't even give Mae a day, already saying her goodbyes once the stepped into Woodbury. Audrey had been through a lot, losing her family and everything, only having Mae left. He thought Mae being the only one, she'd want to fight to find her. Apparently he was wrong.

"Hey, if you still think she's alive then what's stopping you?" Andrea asked.

"I can't leave Audrey. She's all I have left and I love her. But Mae's one of my best friends and if I let her go...well, you see my dilemma now..." Max said.

"Maybe I can ask to have a group go looking around for her. You give me a description of her and I'll tell the Governor-"

"No," Max said quickly. "No, thank you. I'd rather not have him get involved."

"But if she's out there, he can help find-"

"Thank you, Andrea. Really, but I'd rather Mae be out there than in these walls," Max gave the final word and walked away.


	10. Weeds

Hello everyone! Here we are at chapter 10! Hooray! Thank you to everyone you is following the story and has added it to their favorites. It warms my heart to know that you are enjoying it! :) Reviews are always welcomed! I love hearing from you guys! Enjoy!

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**Chapter 10: Weeds**

A week had slowly passed by at the prison and for a while, everything was going fine. There hadn't been many Walker's down at the fences or roaming the tombs so it gave the group more time to take care of other things. Hershel and Rick got started on a garden, and even though it was small now, they hoped to find more things to grow in it over time. Finding seeds would be difficult and would require countless amount of runs, but everyone was up for it. It lifted everyone's spirits to have something as promising as a garden for a new source of food and would be a great change from daily servings of mushy oatmeal and baked beans.

Mae had joined Rick and Hershel out in their gardening patch and helped churn up the soil. Hershel had a few packets of seeds that he managed to save and was discussing with Rick how now would be the best time to plant them once they finished raising the garden bed. In the next couple of months, they'd be growing tomatoes, beans, strawberries, and peppers, if they had fortune on their side.

"We can have Glenn or Daryl go out to try some fishing later on. We'll need some sort of fertilizer if we want our crops to grow nicely. " Hershel said.

"We're going to use fish as fertilizer?" Mae asked, wiping her brow. "Shouldn't we eat them instead of throwing them in the ground?"

"Just the parts we don't eat. The guts, heads, and bones are full of things plants love and will help them grow. Unless you plan on eating those things, then I say we have a fine way of getting our garden started," Hershel said, pulling out weeds and putting them into a bucket.

Mae laughed and shoveled some more dirt. "Go right ahead. I didn't know of all things that fish would make a good fertilizer. My momma should have tried that. She could never get her garden to grow."

"I'll be in need of a helper once this garden starts growing. There'll be lots or watering and weeding, not to mention making the fertilizer. Think you'd be interested?" Hershel asked Mae.

"That sounds lovely," Mae smiled. " I'd be happy to help. Think I'm up to going out and catching the fish too?"

Hershel paused and looked over at Rick. Rick had been shoveling silently, listening to them. He looked over at Mae, his thoughts turning in his head. Rick slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. Once Hershel takes your stitches out, you can start going out on runs," Rick said.

"Really?" Mae said, smiling ear to ear. "Thank you, Rick! I promise, it won't be like it was at the fences."

"I know, Mae," Rick said, trusting in her judgment in herself. "Why don't you go see Daryl, I asked him if he could teach you how to shoot. Didn't think you were that familiar with a gun."

"Oh, alright," Mae said as she handed her shovel over to Rick. "You sure you two don't need help here?"

"We're good. You go on ahead now," Rick said.

Mae gave them a smile before she hurried off up towards the prison. Rick went back to digging until Hershel spoke.

"Are you going to tell me what you and Daryl found when you were out looking for Mae's group, or am going to have to guess?" Hershel asked, crossing his arms.

Rick paused, his back turned as he looked up at the sky, sweat pouring down his face.

"We tracked the footprints we found from the camp we thought to be Audrey's and Max's, and we found that they led straight to Woodbury," Rick said. "They were either taken or went by themselves, we don't know."

"And you're not going to tell Mae?" Hershel asked.

"Wasn't planning to, but you sound like you think it's a bad idea," Rick said.

"It's not the right thing to do, no. What's your reasoning?"

"If we try and go in there for two people, we could cause war between us and the Governor. We've already broke in once and killed a few of his people for one of our own. We don't know them and we don't even know if they could be trusted," Rick said.

"You trust Mae, don't you?"

"Of course. She hasn't given me a reason not to."

"You asked us when she first came here if we were all willing to help her find her group. You asked, and we agreed. What if it was Carl out there in Woodbury and someone knew where he was but didn't tell you because they were afraid of causing a war? I'd say that would be mighty selfish of them. Wars have been fought over smaller things, Rick. You'd want someone to tell you, wouldn't you?"

Rick nodded and his mind started to rethink itself. Mae trusted him enough to believe that he'd tell her if he had information about Audrey and Max. He could ruin that trust if he didn't tell her and she found out about it later on. He could lose her alliance with him and his group, possibly have her go to Woodbury and side with the Governor.

"What do you suggest I do?" Rick asked.

"The right thing, I hope. "

Mae made her way into the prison courtyard where she found Daryl, Glenn, and Maggie. She waved to them as she approached, seeing that Rick was right when he said Daryl was going to teach her how to shoot. Daryl held a black bag filled with all different kind of guns varying from shotguns to rifles and pistols. He stood proudly as Mae made her way over to him.

"I see you're all ready to begin," Mae noted.

"What are you guys up to?" Glenn asked.

"Daryl's going to teach me how to shoot," Mae smiled.

"Yeah, and you're late for class. Let's go," Daryl said with a tilt of his head.

"Wish me luck," Mae grinned at Maggie and Glenn. "After dinner, want to have a rematch in cards?"

"You know it," Maggie said.

"Yeah, and I'll win this time!" Glenn said as Mae followed Daryl.

"I don't think so!" Mae laughed before she turned round the corner.

Her and Daryl went off into the field and he set down the bag of guns carefully. He pulled out a pistol and handed it to Mae. Looking over in the field, Mae saw Daryl had set up cans on top of boxes set up at different distances for shooting.

"Whoa, you did all this? Why didn't you tell me you were going to be teaching me how to shoot, Daryl? Or should I call you Mr. Dixon while we're in class?" Mae asked.

"Thought I'd make it a little surprise. And call me Mr. Dixon again, you'll be limping back up to the prison."

Mae let out a laugh.

"Alright teacher, teach me something. How do I work one of these bad boys?" She said, lifting her gun up and aiming it at one of the cans.

"First off, you need to load it," Daryl said, pulling out a box of ammo from his bag and opening it. "See this thing here?" He asked, tapping the handle of the gun. "S'called a magazine. You flip this switch and pull it out. That's where the bullets go."

Mae flipped the switch Daryl pointed to and pulled out the magazine.

"Very nice. Now, load it one bullet at a time till it's full. Make sure the bullets are facing forward. After that, slide the magazine back into place. When you hear a clicking noise, you'll know that it's locked in."

Mae did as told and clicked the magazine in.

"Like that?" She asked and Daryl nodded.

"Just like that. Now you want to flip the safety switch off. If that's on, you can't shoot. This is the part where you're about to shoot now."

"Alright, which can should I aim for?" Mae asked.

"Let's go for the closest one, right there," Daryl said. "Stand right here, feet slightly apart, both hands on the trigger. Now you're gonna pull back on the barrel on the top to load in a bullet. It only does one so you have to pull it back every time you want to make a shot. Ready to aim?"

Mae nodded, pulled back the barrel and aimed her gun at the can.

"Focus on the can. It's pretty loud too. I'll cover your ears. Just relax and when you feel like you got it in sight, go ahead and shoot."

Taking in a deep breath, Mae lined herself up and set her sight on the can. Daryl placed his hands over her ears and Mae zoned onto her target. She put her finger on the trigger, holding her breath and pulled it back. The gun vibrated in her hand once the shot left it, startling her a little bit. The can still stood, but she saw a newly placed hole in the crate that it sat on.

"Not bad. Didn't miss completely," Daryl grinned and patted her shoulders. "Try again."

It took Mae at least six tries till she finally hit the can. She laughed when she saw the can fly off the crate and landing in the tall grass. Shooting pumped up her adrenalin and Mae had done a victory punch as Daryl gave her a high five.

"Look at that! Not bad, right?" She smiled, switching the safety on.

"You're right. Soon you'll be practicing on Walker heads next," Daryl said, taking Mae's pistol and putting it in the bag.

"Can't we do that now?" Mae asked, a little disappointed not to continue shooting.

"We will. Don't want be drawin' in too many Walkers with our gun shots. Best to save the bullets for another time. Don't mope, you did good today," Daryl said, ruffling her hair before he zipped up the bag.

"Was that you two firing all those shots?"

Mae and Daryl looked over to see Merle walking over to them. He'd been up in the watchtower all morning and was finally let off by Michonne. She and Merle had gotten to know each other a bit more over the past week ever since the fence incident. She'd check his arm and rewrap it every night and they'd chat for a while before heading off to bed. Mae realized Merle only really talked with her and Daryl. He talked to Rick and Hershel some, but kept to himself when he wanted to. When Mae asked him why he didn't really talk with Maggie or Glenn or Michonne, he nodded his head and chuckled, saying that "they weren't his cup of tea" and that they wouldn't want to talk to him anyways. When she asked him if there was any bad blood between them he responded by saying "sort of" and left it at that.

"Yeah. Daryl just taught me how to shoot," Mae said. "Got it on my first try too."

"You liar," Daryl laughed and gave her a little push as he slung the gun bag over his shoulder.

"First, sixth, same thing. I hit the can, that's what's important," Mae grinned. "Bet you weren't a great shot when you first started."

"Lousiest shot I ever saw. He went through thirty bullets before he even grazed the target," Merle chuckled as he teased his brother. "Could barely hold up the gun, his arms were so skinny."

Mae giggled, covering her mouth when she saw Daryl roll his eyes at his brother.

"You come over here for a reason, Merle?" He asked.

"Yeah, I did. If you and Annie Oakley are done wastin' bullets here, I could use your help cleaning out some traps. Couple of 'em got messed up by some Walkers and need a little fixin'. Won't take long, if that's what you're worried about," Merle said, watching his brother with a perceptive glare.

"No, I'll come and help," Daryl nodded to his brother. " Come on, Mae."

Mae quickly followed after the Dixon brothers. She looked up at Merle and walked next to him, falling in line with his footsteps.

"Do you think you'll need any extra help? I don't know much about traps, but I'm willing to learn," Mae smiled to the both of them.

"Better off pullin' weeds in the dirt, sweetheart," Merle said to her. "Besides, wouldn't want you to get your hand stuck in a trap, now would you? Could end up like me."

Merle smirked as he waved his non-existent right hand at her. Mae grimaced, with a smirk on her face.

"Well, since you only have one, it would make sense for me to help you, right?" Mae asked.

Merle was about to make a flirtatious remark as he looked over at her, but what he saw made him forget what he was going to say. Daryl was smirking and laid his hand on top Mae's shoulder, whispering something in her ear that caused her to giggle.

Merle frowned at this; a strange fire crept up the back of his neck and his stomach twisted in a peculiar sort of way he'd never felt before, and he didn't particularly like it. His eyes caught every move they made.

"What do you say, Merle?" Mae smiled up at him, her eyes hopeful. "I can be your right hand man."

"I'm perfectly capable of doing it by myself without your help," He sneered, shrugging her presence away like she was a hovering, annoying insect. "I ain't handicapped, darlin'. Besides, you'd just get in the way."

Mae didn't respond, a little shocked that his tone had switched on her like that. His normal drawl he used to speak to her in had totally vanished and was replaced by the sharp low tones he used whenever he was upset.

"I... I wasn't saying you were," Mae said finally, her face turning red.

"Better think before you speak, then," Merle scolded.

Mae suddenly didn't know where to look. Embarrassment overwhelmed her as Merle looked down at her with an accusing grimace.

"I'm sorry..." Mae began, but seeing Merle was in no mood to listen, she ducked her head, darting her eyes between Daryl and Merle.

"Have fun fixing your traps..." She said lowly, her face flushing before she left and headed inside the prison.

Merle and Daryl were left in the courtyard, both looking in the direction Mae had left. Merle's face was pulled in a resentful scowl as he watched, but his eyes, following Mae till she disappeared, were full of remorse.

"What the hell man?! You got your head up your ass or something?" Daryl scolded his brother, pushing him a little.

"Don't you yell at me, boy! You should be thanking me for getting her off of your back! Asking to help all the time - she won't leave your side even if you tired shakin' her off!" Merle growled, towering over his brother.

It was his only defense. He didn't mean it, of course. In fact, he didn't know why he said the things he did to her. He didn't mean what he said at all, but it was too late now. Merle's anger was like a furnace roaring inside him. Once set off, it was hard to put out. Each level of his anger was like a piece of wood fuelling the fire. He was mad that he had snapped at Mae, he was mad he had made her upset and caused her to leave, but what made him even more infuriated was that he didn't know what set off his anger in the first place.

"She ain't got no one else, Merle! I don't mind her company. She's alright by me."

"Alright by you- please," Merle laughed. "She's alone, and she's looking for a little _'company'_, that's all."

There were those meaningless words slipping from his mouth again. He would have socked his own jaw in if he could have. He knew that Mae wasn't that type of person and if he had any sense left, he'd stop talking. He could see Daryl was done with him, pacing in front of him with his fists balled up and his mouth pulled tight.

"Don't you say anything like that again, or your head's gonna be meeting a wall! What would even make you think of something so stupid? She ain't keen on me in that way."

"Oh yeah? She tell you?"

"Man, you wouldn't understand if I told you. I thought you were okay with Mae? She didn't say nothing bad to you. What's got you so worked up, huh?" Daryl asked, letting go of Merle.

He waited and watched for his brother to give an answer. What had gotten him fired up, Merle didn't know. He had been exceptionally good tempered that morning, and Daryl was right; Mae hadn't said anything bad to him. It was just the way Mae laughed when Daryl whispered to her that made Merle's muscles tense and his jaw tighten. Why he felt like this or why it affected him at all was beyond him. Why did he care who made Mae laugh or what she thought at all?

_She thinks good of you, you know_.

Carol's words echoed in Merle's head. Mae seemed to be the only one besides his brother that cared about his well-being. All he could do in return was throw it back in their faces. It was something so unnatural and so foreign to him that Merle didn't know how to react to it. The more he thought about it, the more that annoying knot in his stomach tightened. He had never been jealous much; Merle always got what he wanted, so there was no reason to be, but this was different. He didn't wish to possess, but to_ feel_... He wanted to feel what it was like to see Mae laugh and know that he was the cause of her delight.

_Shut the hell up_, Merle's internal voice growled at him. _Be a man and get over it._

"It ain't Mae, is it?" Daryl asked lowly.

Merle's mouth twisted and pushed Daryl aside. Like hell if was going to tell Daryl what he was really thinking. Merle became abruptly aware as he kept on thinking on the subject that his brother was the origin of his rage. The way he was always around Mae, chatting with her and laughing with her; it bugged him more than he let himself realize. Merle knew his brother wasn't the one to blame here, though. He caused his own actions here; _he_ caused his own troubles.

"It most certainly is not! I... I don't know man, just leave it. I ain't got nothin' else to say about it. Wasn't right, I know it. I know it." Merle said.

"Then go apologize. It's the least you can do," Daryl said.

Merle ran his hand across his head and nodded. "Yeah, alright."

"And don't be saying anymore stupid crap to her, or I swear, you ain't gonna be wakin' up pretty tomorrow," Daryl said, walking off.


	11. Corinthians 13:1-8

Hello everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful day! One more week till the season 4 final of The Walking Dead, I cant believe it! I wanted to give a big thank you to everyone who is following the story and for those who have left a review! Its really kind of you and it makes me so happy to see them! I'm glad that you're all enjoying! This ones a short one, but don't worry, the action starts to pick up after this!

Like always, enjoy! :)

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**Chapter 11: Corinthians 13:1-8**

Mae sat with Hershel in his cell, sitting in a chair as he read from his bunk. After her ordeal with Merle in the prison yard, Mae hurried up to her cell, hiding her watery eyes and flushed cheeks from everyone else. She didn't feel like talking or explaining to everyone why she was upset. She had rather hide away until she felt like coming out again, but how long that would take, she didn't know. Mae wasn't mad with Merle, only a little disappointed. She had thought they had been on good terms; that she had been right about his good nature, but witnessing him turn on her saddened her heart more than anything.

_Perhaps I was in the wrong_, Mae thought. _I didn't think what I had said would upset him so. Why can't I keep my mouth shut?_

Mae was always overthinking things and blaming herself for things that weren't her fault. She'd fault herself constantly, regretting most of the things she would say. Maybe it would be better if she just avoided Merle all together and saved herself the embarrassment. But she knew that wouldn't work. She'd regret that too if that's what she chose to do. To Mae, there was something about Merle Dixon that fascinated her. She never met a man like him before. Both of the Dixon's were a rare breed, but Merle was rarer still. The way he held himself with complete confidence and power, the strength that was encased inside his eyes, and the raw words that would either come out smoothly or harshly from his mouth, stunning her with whatever he said, grasped and held Mae's attention, and left her wanting to be in his presence all the more.

She felt like a teenager in high school all over again, hiding behind her books and fumbling over herself any time someone she admired or liked tried to talk with her. Her phase of shyness had not faded or dispelled from her personality. It wasn't that strong anymore, but faced to face with a hot headed Dixon caused her to retreat back into the days she cried when she thought someone looked at her in an unkind manner. Mae feared to be hated or disliked, especially by someone she cared for.

Hershel had found her in her cell, wiping away tears she had just gotten control over. He asked her if she'd like for him to read to her, saying he had something in mind that she might like. Mae had agreed and followed him to his cell, surprised to see what book he was reading from.

_"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful."_

Mae smiled at Hershel as he closed his Bible.

"It's been a long time since I've heard from that book," Mae said.

"Did you practice your faith before all of this?" Hershel asked.

"Yeah, but not as well as I should have. I pray more now than I ever did back when things were normal. I guess a lot of people did that too," Mae sighed.

"Better late than never," Hershel smiled. "You're welcomed to borrow it anytime you like."

He set the Bible on his bed as Mae smiled. "I'd like that. Thank you."

Mae got to thinking about the passage Hershel had read to her. She wondered why he wanted to read her that passage in particular. Hershel was a great observer, she knew that. He probably knew more about what was going on with her than she knew herself.

"I don't think love exists anymore, Hershel," Mae said. "How can there be love in this world? Everything we love dies, and then what are we left with? Just regret and anger…Love has become something we cant handle anymore. It was too much, and now we've lost it. Everyone's heart is a little dead inside nowadays. We're all noisy gongs or clanging cymbals."

"Love doesn't go away, Mae. It's always there, even when we think it's gone or when we think we've lost the ability to love. Everyone is capable of it, even those who would like to deny such a feeling. Regret and anger are the doors that lock it away. You're the key that opens it. Most people don't realize this and are left with empty chests and lonely lives. You still love Audrey and Max, don't you?" Hershel asked.

Mae's eyes watered at their names and her breath caught in her throat.

"Of course," She said, her lip quivering.

"And you've come to love the people here, haven't you?"

"Yes," Mae said, the thought of everyone there causing her the smile from ear to ear.

"Then love still exists. Even in the most unlikely of places, it still exists. You just have to remember that."

Hershel took Mae's hands in his and patted them gently. Mae made a note to remember what Hershel told her and promised herself that she would remember. The hallway platform echoed, alerting them that someone was walking down it in their direction. In a few second, Mae and Hershel both looked over to find Merle stopping in the doorway of the cell.

"Didn't mean to interrupt nothin'," He said.

"That's alright, Merle," Hershel smiled and stood up. "How can I help you?"

"I was looking for Mae, actually. Wanted to have a word, if that's alright?" Merle asked, the tone of his voice completly different from before. It was low and mellow, and perhaps a little humbled.

Hershel looked back at Mae, both men looking at her for an answer. She nodded silently.

"I'll leave you two, then," Hershel smiled and exited his cell.

Merle waited till he heard Hershel leave completely, and entered his cell. Mae still sat in her chair, not daring to look up at him. Merle sighed as he searched for the right words to say. The fact that she didn't look at him only caused him to feel worse about what he had done.

"You… alright?" He asked.

"Yeah," Mae nodded, her eyes fixed on her hands and voice quiet.

""You, uh… your leg alright?" Merle asked, wondering if that was the reason she had been with Hershel.

"Oh no, yeah. It's fine. Hershel and I were just…" Mae paused, trying to control her voice from shaking. "Talking."

It devastated and frustrated him that this withdrawn reaction from Mae was caused by him. He knew it was. Her bright spirit had shrunken away. He would rather her look upon him with anger or disgust, he didn't care. He just wanted her to look at him.

"Listen, I… I didn't mean what I said to you back there. I was already mad about other shit, and it just all came out. I was an asshole and should have kept my mouth shut. Hell, I shouldn't have come over at all being as worked up as I was, but… I wanted to let you know that it wasn't you and I'm… sorry."

Mae tilted her head and her glittering eyes met Merle's. He gave a smile when she did, seeing that there wasn't any anger or disgust in them, only gladness. And she smiled back, affirming that she was no longer feeling upset anymore.

"Yeah, you were an asshole," She grinned, causing Merle to let out a laugh.

Mae got up, her once hooded eyes now searching his. She suddenly felt the closeness of the cell and how much smaller Merle's presence made it fell, but she didn't shy away and she didn't look down.

"But I forgive you," she smiled.

Merle had the sudden urge to reach out and tuck a piece of Mae's hair behind her ear and tell her that he was glad she forgave him, but Merle's hand laid still at his side and he said nothing.

Mae moved past him, looking back with a playful grin.

"Want to play some cards?" She asked, her voice full of liveliness.

Merle agreed, following after her.


	12. A Rush Of Blood

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long delay! Being sick is not fun, but I hope that all of you are well and are happy for a new chapter! This ones a big one, so prepare! :P So sad that The Walking Dead is over and wont come back till October, but that season final was amazing! Some crazy stuff going on it Terminus, right?

As the title depicts, there is a bit of blood and violence in this chapter. Just a fair warning for those who are a little uncomfortable with reading bloody scenes :)

Enjoy!

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**C****hapter 12: A Rush of Blood**

A few days later, Daryl and Merle decided to go hunting. The traps kept catching Walker's instead of animals, so the boys were going for a different tactic. Mae had also gone along with them, acting as their lookout. Rick had allowed her a pistol and given her back her axe. Mae smiled, glad to have her old friend that saved her skin ten times over through the past year back in her hands.

Her stitches were out, and Mae felt on top of the world. She couldn't wait to get out there and test herself against Walkers, hoping her skills hadn't rusted over while she laid bedridden for a good month. Mae had gotten on her old vest and got her backpack ready to go. Merle and Daryl were waiting outside for her. Mae strapped on her backpack, tucked her gun into its holster and picked up her axe, ready to head out of the prison.

"So what are we trying to find?" Mae asked once they were out in the woods.

"Squirrel, rabbits, maybe a deer if we're lucky," Daryl said.

"We aint _that_ lucky," Merle said.

"Let's keep the hope alive, shall we?" Daryl smirked as he raised his crossbow, pointing it up towards the trees.

They all paused, and Mae and Merle watched Daryl as he aimed and fired his bow. A medium sized squirrel fell down with an arrow through its side. Daryl quickly tied it up and pulled out the arrow, smiling back at Merle.

"Yeah, well it aint no deer," Merle said.

"Hey," Mae said suddenly, kneeling on the ground. "I found some mushrooms. Do you know if they're poisonous or not?"

She moved around the leaves and dirt that surround the large white mushrooms as Merle made his way over to examine them.

"Yeah, they're poisonous. Those are fairy cakes," Merle said, brushing the leaves back over them.

"Fairy cakes?" Mae smiled.

"Don't let the name fool you, darlin'. Aint gonna get no pixie dust by eating them. They'll have you throwing your guts up within an hour," Merle said.

"Mm, lovely," Mae frowned, brushing her hands off and picking up her axe. "It's a shame. Could have really used that pixie dust."

Merle grinned at her.

Daryl let out a whistle that signaled Merle to come over to him. He spotted a raccoon wandering the forest floor. It was a big one too.

"My damn bow is jammed. You're gonna have to shoot till I figure out what the hell is wrong with it," Daryl said, sitting against a tree as he tried to fix his bow.

"Don't worry. I'll have that coon in a minute," Merle said, kneeling as he aimed his gun, getting ready to shoot.

"Need any help?" Mae whispered as she approached Daryl.

"Search my bag for a switchblade, it's over by that tree. I think one of the screws is loose," Daryl said, nodding to his bag just a few feet away.

Mae hurried over to where Daryl's bag laid and unzipped it. She thankfully found the switchblade at the top and turned to make her way back

"This is the one you wanted, right?" Mae asked as she turned around.

Mae gasped as she saw a Walker coming around the tree Daryl sat against. It clumsily hobbled over and knelt down, hissing with hunger.

"Daryl!" Mae yelled, but it was too late.

The Walker grabbed ahold of Daryl's arm, catching him off guard. Daryl tackled the Walker and fought for his life as it chomped at him with hungry teeth. Mae looked over at Merle who was being closed in on by two other Walkers, but he seemed to have it taken care of. He slammed one Walker in the skull with his bayonet as he made ready for the other one. He wouldn't have enough time to get to Daryl, which left Mae panicking. The Walker got closer and closer to Daryl's neck with its rotting teeth, and she could see he was struggling. Mae reached for her pistol at her hip, pulled back the top, aimed, and fired.

The Walker fell dead, its skull splitting open from the shot and leaking out blood on top of Daryl. He sighed with relief, even as the Walker bled on him, and let out a disgusted grumble. Once Daryl had pushed the Walker off of him and Merle had finished off his own Walker, they both looked over at Mae who still had the gun aimed with fear written all over her face. Her hands began shaking as she stared at Daryl, seeing the blood splattered down his face and chest. She couldn't bring herself look away or move, paralyzed in the moment. Her ears were ringing with the fire of the gun, and all she could see was blood. The blood against Daryl's face and clothes were like flashing neon lights that she could not look away from. Her body went ridged and the gun dropped from her hands.

Daryl got up and slowly took a few steps toward Mae. He looked into her eyes, full of fear and terror. Her hands began to lower, but they continued to shake violently. He noticed that when he came closer to her, she backed away from him. Mae seemed to look right through him, and Daryl could hear small gasps escaping her lips as she tried to breathe.

"Mae? It's me, Daryl. It's … It's alright now," He said.

He tried taking another step toward her, but she again backed away from him a few steps, quickly warning him. "Don't. _Don't_."

Daryl nodded and took a few steps back. "Alright," He said softly.

He looked back at Merle who was standing nearby with his gaze fixated on Mae. He didn't make a move, nor make a sound…just watched as she stared at the ground with her eyes wide and small shaky breaths escaping her.

Merle saw the complete fear in her eyes and how her hands trembled at her side. Something other than the Walker had frightened her. Her whole demeanor had change to that of someone who felt extremely threatened and petrified, but it couldn't possibly be Daryl that scared her. He tried to see what she was staring at until it clicked; she was staring at the blood.

Merle approached and moved Daryl aside, telling him that he'd handle this and for him to go collect their stuff. He stepped into Mae's view and calmly approached her.

"Hey, now," Merle said in a soft tone. "You alright?"

Mae's eyes darted from side to side until she looked up at Merle, partially realizing what was going on. She gave a slight nod and looked back down at the ground, taking in a breath and closing her eyes. Merle looked down at her trembling hands and wondered what on earth shook up this poor girl so much.

"Come on now, you're alright," He said, rubbing her shoulder.

"Is he … dead?" Mae muttered in a near whisper.

Merle looked back at the Walker that laid face down in the dirt, his skull split open and black goo oozing out and seeping into the dirt.

"Yeah, he's dead."

This seemed to upset Mae, for she looked at Merle in disbelief and started to tear up. Daryl stood by watching, a little confused and distraught that he couldn't comfort her. He wasn't so sure Merle could snap her out of whatever trance she seemed to be in.

"He was a Walker," Merle explained to her. "He was already dead."

Mae then suddenly seemed to realize exactly what was going on and her entire face flushed a bright red. She looked round, spotting her bag and her axe and quickly made for them.

"Mae?" Daryl called out.

She didn't respond, slinging the back pack around her shoulders.

"Mae-" Daryl said, grabbing her shoulder, only to result in Mae pulling away from him.

"I'm fine!" She said a little too forceful to believe.

"Like hell you are. It's alright if you're not. It don't matter," Daryl said.

"Please, I … I don't want to talk about it, Daryl," She tried to force a smile. "I'm fine now."

Daryl didn't argue with her. It was obvious whatever just happened had happened to her before and this was her way of dealing with it. Best to let her work it out herself.

Mae purposely walked ahead of the brothers on their way back to the prison. She didn't feel like hearing their questions and she didn't feel like explaining. It was too complicated and Mae had the intention of forgetting it as soon as possible. The entire way back she argued with herself on how she could let herself slip like that, how she could let herself be bothered by something she told herself could hurt her.

But it was everywhere ... and Mae couldn't help but see those same black eyes reflected in Daryl's as he came towards her covered in that horrible, redolent…

The prison suddenly came into view, and Mae made a run for it. Merle and Daryl weren't far behind when they entered the prison, greeted by Maggie and Michonne.

"Everything alright?" Michonne looked at them.

"Yeah, why?" Daryl asked.

"Mae bolted through here not that long ago looking pretty upset and … Is that blood on you?" Maggie asked.

"It's Walker blood. Three of them came out of nowhere. She had to use a gun to kill it, and it was her first time really using one. I think it spooked her a bit," Dary said.

"Think she'll be alright?" Maggie asked with a worried frown.

Daryl didn't want to get into all that really happened. He didn't think Mae would want everyone to know anyways. Perhaps he should go check on her and see if she was alright … or maybe he should get cleaned up first. The Walker's blood was starting to dry up and leave behind a horrible stench.

"She just needs to process it, I think. She'll be fine. Let her rest for a bit" Daryl said.

"Where are you two going?" Michonne asked, seeing the brothers heading for the door.

"We gotta go back out and see if we can rustle up something to eat. One squirrel aint gonna do it." Daryl said.

Daryl and Merle didn't come back till later with not much luck gathering any more food. Daryl had caught a couple most squirrels, but that was all they could get. Their raccoon from earlier had disappeared and there wasn't anything else to be seen in those woods but a few Walkers and a half destroyed berry bush. It looked like their meal that night was going to be a small one.

Upon asking where Mae was, Maggie told Daryl that Mae hadn't left her room since she had gotten back. Maggie had checked on her, only to find Mae looking at what seemed to be a photo album of hers, and thought it best if she was left alone. Mae didn't come down for dinner that night either.

"She said she wasn't feeling well and wasn't that hungry anyways," Maggie said to the group as they gathered round to eat.

"I'll bring up some food for her in a little bit, see if she's changed her mind," Carol said.

Michonne's glare stayed focused on Merle the entire night. She was suspicious why he didn't say a word about what happened in the woods or anything about Mae not being there. It deeply unsettled her.

"You're awfully quite about this, Dixon," Michonne said, getting Merle's attention.

"My brother explained it pretty thoroughly," Merle said. "You think he's lying?"

"I think _you're_ not saying something about it," Michonne said, raising her chin.

Merle let out a slight laugh. "Well, what do you want to hear?"

"The truth," Michonne said shortly. "Why is Mae so upset?"

"You think he made her upset?" Daryl asked, offended by Michonne's accusations.

"Seemed to do a pretty good job of that a couple days ago," Michonne said, her voice never faltering from its smooth tone or releasing her glare from Merle.

_Woman hears and sees everything_, Daryl thought.

Merle smiled, getting up and picking up his plate.

"Not my place to tell you," Merle said. "Wouldn't even if it was."

"What do you mean?" Michonne asked.

"It ain't my place! Listen, if you want to know so damn bad, why don't you go ask Mae yourself?" Merle growled. "I ain't gonna listen to you accuse me all night long."

Merle threw open the prison doors and walked out, leaving everyone in an uncertain silence. Everyone went to bed without saying another word about the matter.

_Mae made her way down the gleaming white floors of the hospital hallway and caught the elevator by just a few second. She held her files tightly in her arms and pressed the silver button that was marked for the 5th floor. Another doctor, a surgeon Mae believed, entered the elevator. Mae remembered her mother mentioning him a few days ago. Apparently he was having a fling with one of the nurses; and by one, she meant one on every level. He was the hospitals latest heart throb and suddenly every female worker there wanted to volunteer for surgery. Mae had to control her laughter when the elevator doors opened and a team of nurses walked in, giving the doctor an overwhelming amount of flirty smiles._

Quickly hopping out of the elevator before she was suffocated by the amount of tension that was in the air, Mae skipped around the corner and passed the visitors office. She gave a friendly smile to a few of the receptionists and doctors who recognized her, some even asking her how she was. She paused, only briefly, and told them that she was feeling great. She'd been working at the hospital for little under a year now and she was slowly moving up the ranks as a nurse. Mae was about to visit one over her newly added patients. He was a man who had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was about to begin his chemotherapy that morning. It was her job to check that he was ready to go and take him to his first session.

Mae knocked lightly on the patient's door that read B-047 and pushed it slightly with her elbow.

"Mr. Lucas?" She called in a merry tone and walked into the patient's room.

She found Mr. Lucas sitting in his bed, looking through a magazine that laid in his lap.

"Hello," Mae smiled as she approached him. "How are you today?"

"Thrilled, I suppose," Mr. Lucas said with a roll of his eyes.

Mae gave him a companionate smile as she opened up his file and pulled out a pen from her pocket.

"Just think of it as the start of a new beginning," she said.

"Or the start of the end," Mr. Lucas said bitterly as he closed his magazine and plopped it down at the foot of his bed.

Mae looked down, checking off boxes and pulling out the hospital menu. She realized that Mr. Lucas wasn't going to be all that friendly today, and she was half expecting that. His cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, making surgery impossible for him, leaving him with radiation as his only choice. He expressed clearly that he didn't want to be here and he certainly didn't want to go through with it. Once he found out how serious his cancer was and the slim chance of him recovering, Mr. Lucas refused to get treatment, but it was his sister that forced him to get the treatment done.

"Is your sister stopping by today?" Mae asked handing him his menu.

"No. Nancy has to go to her son's college graduation in Florida. She won't be back till Tuesday," Mr. Lucas said, glancing at the menu and then handing it back to Mae.

"Did you choose already?" She asked.

"Just pick whichever. I don't care."

Mae nodded as she pulled out her stethoscope. He normally got soup and a side of potatoes for lunch. Mae quickly made a mental note of that before she spoke.

"Sit up for me, please."

Mr. Lucas sat up with a heavy sigh that caused him to cough a little. Mae offered to get him water, but he refused and asked her to get on with what she was doing. She pressed the stethoscope to his chest and told him to take a deep breath.

Each inhale was short and raspy. Mr. Lucas couldn't continue without coughing, then begrudgingly asked for a cup of water. Mae obliged and gave him a cup, and in just a few seconds, he was fine. His face was heavy, though; shaded and darker than most days. Mae didn't blame him for feeling this way. What he was going through wasn't easy.

"I'm just going to check your blood pressure, and then I'll take you over to the radiology department," Mae said, glancing down at the magazine Mr. Lucas was reading before; a hunting magazine. "Are you a hunter, Mr. Lucas?"

_"Was a hunter. Not anymore."_

_"My uncle is a hunter. Taught me how to track when I was little. It's pretty fun. Never got to learn how to use a gun, though. How long have you been doing it?"_

_"About sixteen years. This'll be my first season that I'll miss," Mr. Lucas said, glancing towards the window. "What a damn shame."_

_"I'm sure you'll be getting out their soon enough. You just keep reading those hunting magazines till you get back out there. Time will fly by," Mae smiled as she unstrapped the blood pressure pump from his arm._

_Mr. Lucas looked at Mae intensely, trying to find where her affable attitude was coming from. _

_"Are you always like this?" he asked, his eyes narrowing at her._

_Mae looked back at him, confused. "Like what?"_

_"This damn happy? How does a girl like you, who's around illness and death all day, stay this happy? So far I don't see a reason for you to be. You have to take care of my sorry ass, what's so exciting about that?"_

_Mae gave a soft laugh. "Mr. Lucas, believe it or not, I enjoy taking care of you. It's what I'm supposed to do. That's what makes me so happy; knowing I get to take care of people I care about, and hoping to make them happy in return."_

_Mr. Lucas laughed and shook his head._

_"Sounds like you practiced that line."_

_"I did."_

_Mr. Lucas smiled genuinely for the first time in weeks. He thought for a moment as Mae gathered papers together that she wasn't as bad as he thought she was. He dared to trust someone in that moment; he dared to trust Mae. She was his nurse after all. His life was in her hands, but now, he was hoping she'd give it back to him._

"Mary, right?" He asked.

"Mae."

"Right ... listen, can I ask you something? I know it might sound ... much, but I really need you to do it for me." Mr. Lucas looked up at Mae with large eyes as desperation broke from behind his voice.

"What is it?" Mae asked, listening with all sincerity.

"I need you to let me leave," he said. "Just ... help me get out of here without getting caught and I swear, I'll be indebted to you for the rest of my life. I need to get out of here, Mae. You understand that right? I don't want to have my final days on this earth being cooped up in this God forsaken hospital. Whenever I'm meant to go, it's got to be out there. It's got to be..."

Mae sighed. She could never allow him to do that. If she did, not only would she get in trouble if any of the staff members found out, but she'd be responsible for Mr. Lucas's life, and possibly his death. It wasn't her choice to allow him to do whatever or ignore the terms she was signed under. Her job was to be in charge of those under the hospitals care. So many things could go wrong if she said yes...

Her heart broke for Mr. Lucas. If she were him, she wouldn't want to be stuck in a hospital either. This man was only in his thirties and had his whole life ahead of him. Now, life was chasing after him, hoping to tackle him down before he could even get a running start.

"I'm sorry Mr. Lucas, but...you know I can't."

"Please," he choked as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. "You don't understand. I'll go crazy if I stay here. I don't want this! This was not my choice!"

"Mr. Lucas, think of your family. Your sister would send you straight back. What would your wife say when she finds you at home and not here?"

"My wife doesn't give a damn about me! You think she cares that I'm dying? No, my dying is getting in the way of her living! She can't stand to be near me anymore, that's why she hasn't come to visit. I'm as good as dead to her anyways. That bitch can-"

"Please Mr. Lucas," Mae said, her eyes collapsing at his words. "Don't ask me...don't put me in this position."

Mae looked up at Mr. Lucas, receiving a cold stare that only made her feel more guilty. He turned away from her and said no more. Left in the silence, Mae walked over and wheeled the wheelchair to Mr. Lucas' bedside. For a moment, he had looked at it and darted his eyes the other way. The chair looked like a hearse in his eyes as his face scrunched with disgust for it. He knew once he got in it, there was no turning back.

"Please," Mae said, her soft voice pulling him from his bed.

Mr. Lucas swung his feet over and waved away any help Mae tried to give him. He sat himself down in the chair and let out a heavy sigh.

"All set before we go?" Mae asked.

_He nodded in silent agreement. With his approval, Mae began wheeling him out of the room and down the hall. They made their way to the radiology department where a team of doctors with bright faces were waiting to take Mr. Lucas in. Mae had paused momentarily as she was greeted by one of the doctors. She whispered to the doctor what had transpired in his room, telling her that Mr. Lucas was in a very agitated state and might not cooperate well. The radiologist nodded in understanding and assured Mae that everything would be fine, thanking her for the alert._

_As Mae talked with the doctor, Mr. Lucas sat hunched in his wheelchair, glaring at the pair of them. A nurse pushing a trolley had paused next to him as they tied their shoes. Scanning the tray, Mr. Lucas spotted a tray of doctor's surgical instruments laying out on their way to be cleaned. A moment of pure desperation betrayed his hand, and his mind fell into an incomprehensible haze._

_Mae returned to Mr. Lucas and began wheeling him into the waiting room._

_"What time should I come to retrieve him?" Mae asked the radiologist._

_"Don't worry about that. I'll have someone else take him," The doctor said._

_"Hear that, Mr. Lucas? I'll be back tomorrow morning to check on you. If you need-"_

_Mr. Lucas began to go into a coughing fit, doubling over in his wheelchair. Mae rushed to him, kneeling down in front of him, taking his arm and trying to comfort him._

_"Just take slow, little breaths … it's alright, you're fine," Mae said softly as she patted his arm._

_"Could you … get me some water?" Mr. Lucas inhaled._

_"Yes, of course," Mae hurried over to the water cooler, poured a cup, and returned to Mr. Lucas' side._

_She handed him the cup and he took it, his hand shaking as he brought the water to his lips. Mae rested her hand on his shoulder, looking back at the doctor._

_"I don't mind coming back to get him, really. I'd feel better if I do," Mae said._

_The doctor nodded and informed a nurse to get a room ready for Mr. Lucas. _

_"They're all set for you now. I'll see you in a little while, okay?" Mae smiled._

_Mr. Lucas just looked at her, and she took that for an okay. She then smiled to the doctor._

_"What time shall I be-" Mae's words were cut off as something pulled her back, pulling her into a grip that prevented her throat from letting out any noise._

_Mr. Lucas had his arm around her neck and a scalpel against her collar bone. He backed up till he was against the wall, dragging Mae along with him. Everyone in the waiting room panicked, moving out of his way and watching fearfully as Mae wiggled to get free. Once she felt the cold scalpel at her neck, her fidgeting stopped and her labored breathing quickened. _

_"Mr. Lucas," said one of the doctors. "Please, don't do anything you'll regret. Let the nurse go and we can just talk."_

_"Don't tell me what to do! This is my life and I'll do what I want with it! I don't Nancy or a bunch doctors telling me what I should and should not do. This is my life, dammit, and I'll do what I want!" he roared at the radiologist._

_The receptionist at the desk quickly called for helped while Mr. Lucas was distracted, informing them of a hostage situation._

_"What is it that you want, Mr. Lucas?" the doctor asked._

_There was a bitter rage that etched itself across of Mr. Lucas' face and controlled his entire body. There was so many things he wanted to do, but now all he could do was drag his feet from one doctor to the next, stuck inside horribly white rooms with wires and monitors everywhere. It suffocated him and made him cringe every time he was sat down and was told the severity of his illness. He couldn't stand it any longer._

"Doesn't feel nice to be kept somewhere you don't want to be, does it?" He hissed in Mae's ear, pressing the scalpel closer onto her neck.

_Mae let out a whimper and shook her head._

_Mr. Lucas looked around and saw the fear on the other patient's faces, the concern the doctors showed for their fellow nurse, and the absolute terror that was crippling Mae and causing her to cry helplessly as she clung onto his arm. He looked around and around until he felt sick and dizzy. The scalpel in his hand felt hot and the pain in his chest increased tenfold. Among the things he wanted, this was not one of them._

_A tear ran down his face, clearing some of the haze. Mr. Lucas closed his eyes and rested his head against Mae's, feeling that last bit of comfort he'd ever know. He removed the scalpel from her throat and released her._

_"I'm sorry."_

_Mae screamed aloud as Mr. Lucas reached for his own throat and drew a quick red line across of it with the blade. Blood instantly poured out like pressurized water from a geyser. Mr. Lucas fell like a condemned building, crashing upon Mae. She laid on the ground with the bleeding man's body on top of her, his fading eyes staring into her own, dying right in front of her. Mae felt his blood spilling on her clothes and against her skin, and what felt like hours was only a few seconds before they pulled Mr. Lucas off of her and carried him of to get emergency attention._

_Laying in a pool of a blood, Mae was too horrified to move or speak. All her body could do was shake. From her legs to her hands, Mae could not control them from convulsing. The red sticky ooze that coated her whole body paralyzed her. She could feel it steaming off of her, and all she could see was Mr. Lucas's cold eye's staring into her soul as he bled to death._

_A stinging pain laid on her chest. She reached to touch her collar when she realized that the blood upon her clothes was not all from Mr. Lucas. It was her own, spilling from a cut Mr. Lucas had accidentally made when he pulled away. It was her blood, sending all that remained inside of her to run cold. She gasped, tears unable to be stopped from falling from her hazy eyes. She faintly saw doctor's hovering over her as they called out things she couldn't hear. Everything started to fade into a blinding white until Mae couldn't think anymore thoughts, and she saw nothing but darkness._

Mae woke up then in a cold sweat. She threw off her covers like they were some intrusive attacker and tossed them onto the ground. Letting out a muffled cry amongst her panicked breathing, Mae pushed herself against the wall, clutching her knees upon her bed. It suddenly dawned on her where she was and that she was alone. There were no doctors or nurses, or pools of blood…

_It was just a dream_, Mae thought, shutting her eyes. _It was just a bad, bad dream._

Her heart felt ready to burst, which only put Mae in a larger panic. It was hard to take a breath, for Mae feared that if she did, she would wail aloud if she let it out. Her mind was on fire and her hands were shaking furiously. Mae found herself reaching for her neck, half expecting the pale scar left there to be suddenly reopened. She pulled her hand into her lap, dry and unstained.

The silence of the prison only drove her deeper into her panicked state. She needed to do something, see someone. She needed to clear her mind and think of something else before she lost it completely.

_Think of something good. Think of something that makes you happy. Remember what mom told you, they're just dreams … they're just dreams …_

Mae pulled herself off of her bed, leaving her shoes behind her as she walked down the cell block. The cold silence drew her head to look behind her, anxiously expecting someone to be there.

_Find Daryl,_ she suddenly thought. She'd find him and just … Oh, she didn't care if he was asleep or not. She just needed to be in a room with someone to know that she was safe. She needed to find someone to fight her nightmares away. Halfway up the stairs to where Daryl normally sleeps, Mae found it unoccupied, causing her to whimper in frustration. Catching her breath, she raced down the stairs until she was running out of the prison and into the cool night air.

The night caught her, raw and weeping. She fell against the prison wall, her back sliding down it until she was sitting upon the ground. Bringing her hands in front of her, Mae wept further to see that they could not stop shaking. The smell of that haunting hot copper scent burned her nose and stung at her eyes. The sweat that rolled down her felt as if she was drenched in that mixture of blood once more.

Mae wished her mother was there, or even Don. They always knew how to calm her and keep her from going over the edge. She wished they could have been there in the forest when she nearly blanked out. Daryl and Merle must have though she was completely crazy. She had thought she had her fears under control. Blood hadn't bothered her like it did the first few months after the incident. Of course there would always be those instances where she would have to remove herself from a room or call up her mom to talk her down. And now, well she barely thought of it during the begining of the apocalypse. All the Walker's she killed didn't remind her of Mr. Lucas like the one in the forest did. There was so much blood that poured from its skull, and it went all over Daryl…

A lump rose up to Mae's throat, and for a moment, she thought she was going to be sick. She prayed that this feeling would go away, that she'd forget all about her dream and what happened in the woods. She just needed to forget, that's all. Just to forget…._forget..._

At the sound of footsteps moving through the grass, Mae quickly looked up to find a pair of legs about to crash into her. She gasped as the figure tripped a little.

"The hell?" A voice in the distance filled her ears. "Mae?"

It was Merle, unknowingly entering a disaster. He looked down upon Mae, seeing her in the light of the moon, and was struck to see her weeping and trembling. She looked so fragile and frightened, crying and near the point of hyperventilating. It was then that Merle thought she wasn't able to breath and knelt down before her, taking her face in his hand. He muttered a series of soothing words, telling her that she was alright and to take small breaths, but Mae was in too much of a panic to listen. She took hold of Merle's arms and choked a series of sobs.

"Listen to me, you need to calm yourself down. You're gonna make yourself sick. Hey now … Mae, look at me," Merle said, tilting her head up.

She complied, tears spilling freely.

"You're gonna take in a small breath, you're gonna hold it, and then you're gonna let it out. Alright? You got me?"

"I-I … c-can-t ..." Mae cried, gripping him for support.

"Don't give me that. I don't want to hear you can't. You can."

Mae closed her eyes and listened to what Merle had told her to do. She took in a small breath, held it, and then let it out.

"There you go," Merle grinned, watching her carefully.

Mae repeated the breathing process, her eyes still closed as Merle mindlessly rubbed his thumb across her cheek. When he felt that she had calmed down enough, he asked her what had made her so upset.

"Nightmare," She breathed out.

"What about?"

Mae opened her eyes to look straight into Merle's. She debated whether to tell him or not.

"Bad memories."

"Aint we all got bad memories?" Merle said.

He looked her over, seeing her hands were still trembling at her sides, but not as erratically as before. Her skin was raised with goose bumps from the chilly night air. She probably was freezing, being barefoot and without any proper covering of her arms. Merle withdrew from his worn out black button down, leaving him in his wife beater, and handed it to Mae. She looked at it curiously.

"You're gonna freeze if you don't put something on," He said, taking a seat next to her against the prison wall.

Mae slipped on the oversized button-down and hugged her arms closely to herself. She looked over at Merle who was staring up at the sky, thinking of something he hadn't thought in a while.

"You know, I used have to do that with my momma all the time. I'd come home some nights, and she'd be crying, breathing all funny. My daddy didn't treat her all that nicely. He'd yell at her, throw things around, even hit her sometimes and she'd get herself so worked up that she'd go into these fits. Daryl was too young at the time to know what the hell was going on, so when I'd find my momma crying on the kitchen floor, I knew all I had to get her to do was breath, and she'd be okay again," Merle said.

Mae was touched by the small recounting Merle gave of his past. She was shocked more than anything, never really thinking Merle would hold onto something like that, let alone speak about it out loud. It gave Mae a small window into his soul; a small one, but still a fair glimpse of who he really was inside.

"It was about a patient I had … my dream, that is. Back when I worked at the hospital with my mom," Mae said, staring at her knees.

Merle recalled her telling him about her mother working at a hospital back when she gave him stitches that one night. _Didn't she say she had quit?_

"The patient I was taking care of had cancer and was not coping with it well. He didn't want to be there and no one would really listen to him, and that made him sort of bitter. I didn't mind though, I just wanted to make him comfortable and let him know that he was surrounded by people who cared about him getting better. It didn't work, I guess. He was about to go in for his radiology appointment when he just sort of … snapped. He grabbed me in front of all of the doctors and other patients there, threatening me with a scalpel at my neck. A moment later, I guess he realized what he was doing; he took the scalpel and slit his own throat in front of everyone there and he … he fell on top of me as he collapsed. His blood went everywhere, and mostly on me. It wasn't till they pulled him off that I realized he had accidentally cut me as well. I was bleeding a lot from my neck and passed out soon after that," Mae explained.

"So today in the forest, it wasn't the Walker or Daryl you were scared of, it was the blood?" Merle asked.

"Yeah. Haven't been okay with blood ever since. Kind of works against me in the world we live in now, doesn't it? I can get by with it. I have to … but today … I didn't mean for that to happen. Certain things trigger it and seeing Daryl covered in that Walker's blood just set it off. I apologize for zoning out like that."

"Why? Not like you could of helped it."

"What if other Walkers were coming and I just stood there? I could have gotten all three of us hurt or worse … and it would be all my fault. The last thing I want to do is get anyone hurt," Mae said, clutching her knees.

Merle looked over at Mae and was filled with empathy. Something as bright and delicate as she should have never been exposed to something as horrific as that. He saw the weight it put on her and the overwhelming amount of heaviness it put in her heart.

"You … you know it wasn't your fault? That asshole hurt himself, and you along the way," Merle said.

_Hope he burns in hell,_ Merle thought, picturing the prick that dared to put his hands on Mae._ Selfish son of a bitch that couldn't handle dying. What a treat he'd be in for if he was able to see the world as it is now._

"I guess so. I can't help feel guilty about it, I guess. Some days I wonder if should have just let him walk out of that building like he wanted. Things might have been better if I just let him," Mae said.

"Best not to dwell on it, sugar. Think of something that makes you happy and clear you head of those thoughts," Merle said.

Mae smiled and looked over at Merle once more. She found looking at him made the night that less dark; that his presence next to her eased and stabilized her shaking hands and paced her heart. All thoughts of her nightmare slipped away and were replaced by thoughts of the man sitting next to her, and suddenly, she did feel happier.

Moments had passed as they both stared up at the sky. The enchanting quietness all around them, besides the occasional groaning Walker, set both of them at ease. Merle was too busy tracing the stars and gazing at the moon to realize that Mae had fallen asleep next to him. Her head fell against his shoulder, causing Merle to smirk as he found her knocked out, and breathing softly alongside his arm. He was glad that she was; she needed the rest after a night like tonight.

Careful not to disturb her, Merle gingerly scooped Mae up into his arms and carried her back into the prison and into her cell. He laid her down and tucked her in, standing by for a moment and finding himself smiling at her as she slept. He then left her cell as quietly as he came, heading back outside into the cool night air, imaging the feeling of Mae standing right beside him as he looked up at the sky.


	13. Trapped

**Chapter 13: Trapped**

"Come on everyone, quicker we get there, the quicker we get back safe and sound." Carol said as she strapped her knife to her waist and threw on her jacket.

The group had decided that today would be a good day for a supply run. Rick said there was a small shopping complex not far from them he had gone to before, but hadn't had enough time to check it out. It hopefully stayed untouched and wasn't flooded with Walkers, having enough food and supplies to get them by for a while. The garden was still in progress and wouldn't be ready for a while yet, so they needed to find that complex untouched, or else they'd be in trouble.

Daryl packed his crossbow in the trunk of the car as Merle started the engine.

Glenn hopped into the backseat and Mae was about to head in too, but paused halfway in when she heard Carl's voice.

"Mae!" He said, jogging towards her.

She smiled at him, realizing he was handing her something. It was a knife.

"Thought you might need one. Could be handy." Carl said.

"Thanks Carl." Mae ruffled the boy's hair.

A few days ago, Mae had noticed Carl had seemed a little down in the dumps and thought she'd play a game with him to cheer him up. Surprisingly, the prison had a box of checkers Mae had found in a room the group had cleared Walker's out of only recently and was in pretty good condition. They played for a while and enjoyed each other's company, sharing some stories and a few laughs. Mae was happy she could make Carl laugh and take his mind off of whatever was troubling him. Maggie had told her about the day his mother died, and assumed that must be what had gotten him down. Mae could hardly believe that Carl was not only there for her death, but he took the step of ending her too. He had been through a lot for someone so young. Mae wanted to give him back that feeling of being a kid, even if it was only for a little while.

"Hey, I'll find something nice for you while we're out. Maybe I'll find us a new board game?" Mae smiled.

Carl grinned and nodded. "Yeah, that would be cool! I wish I could go out and help you guys…"

"Your dad needs your help to hold down the fort while we're gone. Maybe someday soon? Okay?" Mae gave him a reassuring look.

"Yeah, alright," He said, putting on his dad's hat.

Mae patted him on the shoulder before he headed up back to the prison.

"See you later, cowboy!" Mae said and Carl waved to her.

Carol smiled at Mae as they both got in the car with the others. Soon they were driving down the road, passing nothing but trees and open land for what seemed like a while. Mae stared out the window most of the way to the complex, taking in everything. She hadn't left the prison in over a month and a half, so it felt good to be in some place different. It felt like old times when her and Don and her mother took road trips down to the beach. It cleared her mind of all the bad things that had happened recently, and gave her a strange feeling of normalcy as she drove with her new found family.

The drive had got Mae thinking, and those thoughts mostly revolved around Merle Dixon. She thought of how he hadn't told anyone a single thing about her episode outside of the prison, especially not even Rick, and how much more closer she felt to him after that night. If it hadn't been for him, she had no idea how she would have gotten out of the panic attack she was in. When she had woken up the next morning, Mae was comforted by the musky smell of cigarette smoke that came from Merle's shirt that was wrapped around her, and for a while, Mae sat on her bed, hugging the shirt to herself. She had no idea why, but it gave her a sense of comfort she hadn't felt for a while.

When Mae had returned Merle his shirt, he smiled at her in a new manner that made her feel special in a way that she could not place. She felt her face flush slightly when she approached him, giving a knock on the bars of his cell.

"Mornin' sunshine." He grinned at her.

"Morning." Mae smiled, timidly looking between Merle and his shirt that laid folded nicely in her hands.

"Rick need me or somethin'?" He asked.

"No … I just wanted to give you back your shirt and say thank you," Mae said extending Merle his shirt as he approached her. "So … thank you."

Mae smiled on the outside, but she was mentally scolding herself for acting like a shy little girl. Why was it that every time she tried to talk to him she felt like her whole knowledge of vocabulary suddenly disappeared? _Keep it together, woman!_

"It was nothing," Merle said, placing his shirt Mae gave him on his bunk.

"It wasn't just nothing to me. No one but my family knows about what happened to me in the hospital that day. I've never told anyone about it ... I've been too scared _to _talk about it." Mae said.

"What made you tell me?" He asked.

Mae shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I felt like I could trust you. I still feel that way."

"Most people would argue with you on that one." Merle said.

"I don't care what other people think. It's what I think." Mae said softly, yet still with a tone of firmness.

"Well, I hope you're right to do so, missy," Merle grinned. "But your secret is safe with me."

Mae knew she was right no matter what Merle said. She didn't know why he didn't have the same faith in himself that she had for him. Now, as she watched him driving them to the shopping complex, she couldn't help but smile.

The car pulled to a stop and everyone piled out once they got to the complex. It laid in one long strip, overgrown with weeds and littered with abandoned cars and shopping carts. There weren't any Walkers roaming about which had delighted them, but the inside of the complex held a different matter of things that could erase that delight in a matter of seconds. The stores could be filled with Walkers, other people, or could be totally wiped clean. The group was just praying that the hit it off ease and they wouldn't run into any trouble.

"Should we split up? That way we can search the stores, get what we need, and get out quickly," Glenn said.

"Is splitting up the best idea?" Carol asked.

"We ain't the Mystery Gang. Splitting up could be the death of one of us." Merle said.

"Merle's right. It would be safer if we go in all together, hit one store at a time." Daryl sided with his brother.

"That wholesales store looks pretty big. It'll have everything we're looking for if it's not too cleaned out." Mae said.

The group looked over and assessed the store Mae spoke of. If they were lucky enough, they'd find clothes, food, medicine, and other supplies that could help them out greatly. They all agreed and headed inside quietly. Carol and Glenn shinned their flashlights across the way, giving them a view of what the store held for them.

A bit disheveled and dusty, the store didn't look that bad. They could tell a mass of people had been staying there for a while, seeing rows of empty tents that were now crushed and mangled along with bags and cans of food that had been abandoned by their owners for whatever reason. There wasn't any blood or bodies lying about, so maybe they had left for other reasons. Maybe they had gone someplace else and survived…

"Watch out ya'll. Looks like we got a creeper over there." Merle pointed toward a Walker that emerged from behind a stack of boxes.

It hissed loudly and came running at them, starving for something to eat. Daryl quickly shot it between the eyes with his bow, causing it to fall upon the row of tents.

"Let's be on our guard. We don't know how many Walkers could lurking in here," Glenn said.

"Me and Merle will search the east side, see what we can find. Carol, take Mae along with you?" Daryl asked.

Carol nodded and led Mae off toward the west side.

"You'll be okay by yourself Glenn?" Daryl asked.

"Of coure," Glenn smiled. "Always am."

Carol and Mae headed down an aisle that seems pretty clear. Others were sealed off or toppled over, whatever had been inside of them was gone for good now. The shelves they came across were partially cleaned out, but there were still some items that made them smile.

"Ah, soap! Thank goodness!" Mae said, packing the boxes of fragrant soaps into her bag. "I cannot wait to use it."

"You and me both," Carol smiled, searching the opposite side. "Think we'll be able to find some fresh clothes?"

"I hope so. We could all use some," Mae said. "I'll go check a bit further down, they might have a few tables set up for clothes if they sold any."

"Alright, just be on guard." Carol said.

"Will do." Mae smiled.

Mae walked through the store for a while, slowly making sure there weren't any Walkers nearby lurking in the aisles. Peering down some, Mae saw a few dead corpses, but she didn't spend much time looking at them. She wondered what this place was like and if a group had turned it into a refuge center. It would make sense. The store was big and could fit lots of people, had lots of food and supplies. Something must have went wrong, Mae thought. How could such a secure looking place collapse?

"There they are," Mae whispered to herself as she spotted an aisle of clothing displays.

She quickly made her way over, pulling shirts and pants off of their hangers and stashing them into an empty bag she brought with her. She found lots nice things that she knew Maggie and Beth would enjoy, even getting a couple fun t-shirts for Carl. Mae also got Judith lots of sleepers and outfits, along with a few stuffed animals and rattles she could play with.

There was a large box Mae spotted under the clothing table, seeing its label had a picture of shoes across the side. A couple extra pairs of shoes would come in handy, Mae thought, and didn't hesitate to pull the box out into the open. It was heavier then it looked, and she struggled with it a bit. Her hands flew from the box, however, when she felt a hand grab he shoulder. She gasped a little, dropping her bag to the ground, landing with a loud thud.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to frighten you." Carol said.

Mae let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "No, it's okay. I got myself distracted trying to pull that box out."

"Here, I'll help you." Carol said, setting her bag down and grabbing the box along with Mae.

"They're shoes. I thought we could bring some back just in case anyone's wore out," Mae said.

"That's a good idea. I'm sure Rick will appreciate-"

"Carol, watch out!"

A Walker started to emerge from under the clothing table, reaching its discolored hands out to grab one of them. They both jumped back, watching as it crawled out slowly. Its face was chewed away at, and as the female corpse emerged completely, they could see its arms and legs were also torn away. Just as Carol was about to stab it with her knife, she became distracted by another sound that came from under the table. A small child, maybe at the age of three or four, came crawling out with blood soaked clothes and hands, stumbling its way toward them.

Carol suddenly jabbed the female Walker in the head, letting it drop to the floor, and then quickly ended the small child, cradling it before she rested its body onto the floor next to the other Walker. She set them together in a sorrowful way, wrapping the female Walker's arms around the child, tucking them away to the side of the aisle. Mae watched Carol carefully, admiring her for giving the mother and child a final resting place together. From the looks of it, they had both been hiding together, but the child must have died and attacked its mother, resulting in her torn up appearance. Mae felt tears well up in her eyes, but as she looked at Carol, she could see tears had already fallen down her face.

"Carol? You okay?" Mae asked, realizing this was hitting Carol harder than it was hitting her.

Carol quickly wiped her eyes and turned to give a weak smile at Mae.

"Yeah … yeah, I think I just need some air, though." Carol said, grabbing her bag. "I'll be right back."

Mae watched Carol walk away, leaving her in the aisle alone.

There was still so much Mae didn't know about everyone in the group. She wasn't there for the people they had lost in the beginning and she didn't know their pain. Everyone had different stories to tell, and Mae had her own, but now their stories were coming together, and everyone's choices that they made would decide whether it would end happily or not. Everyone had families at some point, and Mae started to wonder if hers even still existed. Could Max and Audrey still be out there looking for her, or had they moved on? If they had, Mae hoped that they were somewhere safe and happy.

She gave one last look toward the dead mother and child and quickly picked up her bag, making her way to find other supplies.

She was able to find a few packets of batteries and boxes of rice, but that was the best luck she had in finding anything else. Mae found herself walking near the back of the store and passed an aisle that had fallen against another. She wondered if she'd be able to crawl through it and see if she could find anything, but she decided it was too dangerous and moved on. The next aisle did hold promise, though.

It was the toy aisle, and Mae smiled to see that it looked completely untouched. Dolls ad coloring sets were covered in dust and boxes of play kitchens and rocking horses sat on the cold cement floor, never to be opened or played with. Mae found a small row that held playing cards and a few games she knew Carl would like. _One board game and that's it,_ Mae told herself._ Okay, maybe two…_

At the other end of the store, Merle was busy going through the rows of abandoned tents, seeing if he could find anything worth scavenging. He was able to find bags of medicine and cans of food scattered about, even a pack of cigarettes which made him extra happy. There were times he'd find a corpse or two lying around inside a tent. He came across one of a young girl, her head sadly blown to bits. It unnerved him a little and he suddenly wondered if Mae was okay. Scoping around the girls tent, he found her back pack under her cot, finding only a couple books in it. He picked it up and carried it out along with the other stuff he gathered, finding his brother quickly hurrying out of the store.

"Where are you going?" Merle called after him, but Daryl didn't reply.

Merle followed him, finding Daryl consoling Carol as she sat on the pavement, crying.

"Carol, what's going on?" Daryl asked.

"Nothing, I just need a moment. I'll be fine, really," She said, patting Daryl's hand.

Merle came up behind them, wondering something.

"Where's Mae?" He asked.

"I left her inside."

"You left her alone?" Merle's voice growled slightly. "What the hell did you do a thing like that for?"

Carol shrugged, unable to get her words together. She honestly didn't think about it, and now, she regretted her decision. Merle turned in a huff as he stormed back inside the store, leaving Carol a little bewildered.

Mae grabbed at the board game of her choosing and put it in her bag. Just as she was about to look for another, her attention focused at what laid at the end of the aisle. Four Walkers came grumbling towards her, causing Mae to make a quick run for it. Turning the corner, Mae tripped over a box that was pulled out of place, and fell onto the floor. She looked behind to see the Walkers were catching up on her. One made to grab her foot, but she was able to kick it off and push it into the other three behind it. Scrambling to her feet, Mae made a run down the next aisle, only to find three more Walkers waiting for her.

She jabbed two with her axe and was able to make a run past the other one before it could get too close. Mae panicked as she tried to think of which way the entrance to this place was. The Walkers were blocking the way she came, so she'd have to find another way. Another Walker came out from around the corner, backing Mae against the wall. The other group that had been following her was catching up as she was trying to peel the other Walker off of her. Its teeth were getting awfully close to her throat and its weight overpowered her. Mae tried to swing her axe at it, catching it in its side. She was able to pull it away from her as its stomach collapsed from the tear she created, and quickly made for a door a few steps away. She threw the door open, taking shelter inside, but when she went to close the door, the Walker that had attacked her before was reaching itself in. She tried closing the door on it, but it pushed through like a wild animal trying to get out of a trap and made its way inside. It guts were spilling out all over the floor as it hobbled its way toward her, grabbing at her bag, ripping it from her shoulder. It grabbed her arms and pushed her against the wall once more.

Mae suddenly grabbed for the knife Carl had given her, reached her hand up and stabbed it through the back of its head, over and over again. Blood poured and splattered itself down and onto Mae's face. The smell of it took her breath away and her whole body began to shiver. Looking down as she still held onto the corpse, she realized that the contents for the Walkers stomach had spilled out upon her shirt and pants, soaking her in a dark sticky mess. She looked up, catching the black lifeless stare the Walker gave her and gasped, falling to the ground along with it. Mae couldn't move without feeling blood covering every inch of her. A lump rose to Mae's throat, and she became incredibly sick on the floor next to the Walker. After that, she sat paralyzed, not knowing what to do. The only thing she could do was cry.

Merle walked quickly through the store, glancing down every aisle, trying to find Mae. He couldn't believe Carol would have left her like that. There could be Walkers anywhere in that store, and this was Mae's first time back out in the world. He knew he should have went with her instead.

_You aint nobody's babysitter. Why do you care?_ Merle shook his head, trying to get rid of his nagging thoughts. He didn't have to explain it to anybody, especially not himself. He was just going in to make sure she was alright, that was all.

Coming upon the back of the store, Merle heard a series of moans coming from around the corner. He looked over, finding six Walkers trying to claw their way inside the employee's bathroom. A horrible feeling pulled at Merles chest, thinking the worst of what laid behind that door. He hesitated no longer and whistled at the group of Walkers, calling them over towards him.

"Come here ya sons of bitches!" Merle growled as he lunged for the Walkers, bashing one in the skull and shooting at another.

One by one Merle knocked them down, leaving them with a bullet through their brains or a bashed in skull to end their days of mindless walking. He kicked one aside that was blocking the bathroom door and through it open. Merle looked behind him, noticing that the aisle across from him was creaking loudly. Items were quickly falling off of the shelves and the large metal structure was leaning towards him. He quickly stepped inside and shut the door, only to hear the sound of metal hitting the outside wall. The entire aisle had collapsed and fallen against the door. Trying to push it open, Merle found that it wouldn't budge.

"Shit…"

Merle looked around, seeing if there was any reason for him to have come in here and risk his life. The small window to the back let in enough light that Merle didn't need his flashlight. A bag laid at his feet spilling out clothes, cans, and a box to the game Battle Ship next to what appeared to be internal organs. He followed the trail of blood and guts until he saw two Walkers in the corner of the room near the sinks. One was laying on its back while the other sat against the wall. As Merle got closer, he noticed that the one sitting wasn't a Walker at all.

"Mae?!"

He ran to her and kneeled down before her, catching her trembling hands. Her entire face was painted sadistically in red and her shirt was soaked up with what seemed to be the last of the Walkers blood. There was blood all over her; more than Mae could handle, and Merle could see that.

"I couldn't get it off! I kept rubbing, but it won't come off!" Mae cried, raising her arms to show that they were splattered with blood as well.

'We'll get it off, don't worry, darlin'." Merle hushed her, looking around to see what he could do to help her.

He headed over to the bag over by the door and grabbed a couple shirts, returning to Mae in a couple of seconds.

"We're gonna get you all cleaned up, alright? I'll make sure you do." Merle said, whipping the blood off of her arms and face with the shirt he grabbed.

"I tried to leave to find you guys, but I couldn't … I couldn't …" Mae looked down and sobbed, ashamed of herself and her lack of will power.

"Just relax, darlin'. You did your best. Once we get this blood off you, you'll be fine. You'll see. I got you, don't worry." He said, clearing her face of the awful sticky mess.

Mae watched Merle as he diligently worked to get the blood off of her, looking into his eyes that roamed her face. He knew her weakness, and he made to mend her as quickly and as best as he could, making sure that she felt normal again. He didn't ask questions, he just knew, and that's what pulled at Mae's heart. No one ever dealt with her fears like Merle did. Others tried to make her face them or pretended that they weren't there; Merle beat the crap out of her fears and asked them if they wanted more. Having Merle there for her in that moment made Mae realized that he'd always been there to save her, to get her to see that she was strong and a good person. He made her feel the way she wanted to feel, and that feeling was being alive.

The Walker Mae had killed gurgled slightly, its hand twitching toward her. Mae gasped, sliding away from in, pushing herself farther against the wall. Merle got up and hurled his foot down upon its skull, splattering it all over the floor, ending it permanently.

"Hey now, it's alright. I got it." Merle said, pulling her back towards him.

Mae sniffed, trying to follow Merle's words and keep calm.

"How did you find me?" Mae asked as Merle cleaned her face.

"I came lookin' for you. Saw a bunch of Walkers tryin' to get in here and took a wild guess. Looks like I guessed right."

Mae looked back at the dead Walker next to her and frowned at it as if she was waiting for it to come back to life again. It set her off and made her feel uneasy. She felt that way until Merle spoke to her again.

"Hey, don't be lookin' at that." Merle said, turning her head. "Get your mind off it, think of somethin' else. Somethin' that'll make you happy."

"I'm happy you found me," Mae said after a pause, giving a weak smile.

Merle grinned and patted her on her cheek. Even covered in Walker blood, she still was too sweet for words. The way she looked at him made Merle feel proud about himself, like she wanted him and only him to be there with her in a situation like this.

"None of them scratched or bit you, did they? They didn't hurt you?" Merle asked.

"No. No, they didn't." Mae said.

"Good. See, you're alright." He grinned at her.

"Yeah … I threw up, though…" Mae said with a frown.

"Well, that's alright too. Aint not harm in that." Merle chuckled.

As Merle wiped her neck off, he realized Mae's entire shirt was covered in the Walker's blood. There was no way he'd be able to get it off of her. He knew she wasn't all that comfortable having it all over her like that and the way she barely moved, stiffening into awkward poses, only confirmed how unpleasant she felt.

"Hell man, did you massacre the thing?" Merle said, seeing that Mae's once cream shirt was now stained all the way through in deep burgundy.

"Ugh," Mae said looking at her shirt, feeling queasy again. "I feel it everywhere. It smells awful."

Merle tilted her chin up so she wouldn't look at it. "If you're gonna get sick, better look the other way, darlin'."

"I'm fine for right now, but the longer I wear it, the less I'll be able to say that."

"Here, let's get you away from that mess," Merle said, picking Mae up and carrying her over toward the door, sitting her down next to the bag. "And let's get you in something else, alright?"

Merle picked up another shirt from the bag and handed it to Mae.

"Here. Go on and change into that while I try to get this damn door open," Merle said.

"It won't open?" Mae asked.

"The aisle across the way collapsed. Must be blocking the door," Merle said, trying to kick it down.

It only opened about a quarter inch before it shut back on itself.

"Dammit."

"Was Daryl with you?" Mae asked, quickly putting on her knew men's blue t-shirt.

"No. He was outside comforting Carol. She was crying for whatever reason," He said, pulling out his gun. "She's gonna be crying some more once we get out of here."

Merle shot at the hinges of the door, only denting the top one.

"What did she do?" Mae asked.

"She got up and left you alone, all because she needed a moment. That woman almost got you killed. You should have never been by yourself," Merle said.

"It's not Carol's fault. I should have come looking for you guys once she left. I put myself in a dangerous situation, and risked your life along the way. Now we're both trapped in here."

"Trapped? We aint trapped. I'm getting us out of here, honey. Hand me your axe," Merle said, tucking his gun away.

Mae quickly got up and handed Merle her axe, letting him take a couple swings at the door with it. Chunks of wood started to fly off as Merle swung over and over, making a small whole in the middle.

"Alright! Now we're making progress!" Merle said with triumph, chipping away at the whole till it became bigger and bigger.

"Can you see anything?" Mae asked, standing next to Merle, trying to peer out of the whole from a distance.

"I don't know, let's see-" Just as Merle was about to stick his head out to take a look, six Walker hands sprouted through the hole.

Merle pulled Mae back behind him, taking her axe and driving it into the Walkers arms, pulling them from their sockets. Mae looked around for something to use when she heard a horrendous growling coming from the door. A large Walker had shoved its way past the swinging arms and got its head and shoulder inside the hole. It couldn't move in any further than that, only being able to wave one arm around while the other was pinned against his side. Merle swung Mae's axe into the Walker's skull, stopping all movement and noise coming from its once snarling form.

Attempting to pull it from the hole, Merle found the Walkers body to be completely stuck inside the door. Its rotting flesh was caught on shards of wood and was too mangled to even budge. Mae and Merle stood side by side, hearing the chorus of Walker growls coming from behind the door.

"Even if we get that Walker out of the door, there's going to be dozens waiting for us outside that door." Mae said, sighing with defeat.

"Damn asshole." Merle said, knocking the dangling Walkers head clean off of its neck in frustration.

A stream of blood poured out and onto the floor, making an awful mess. Mae's face twisted and turned the other way.

"Sorry." Merle sighed, stepping away from the mess himself.

"Hey, what about that window?" Mae said, pointing up above the sinks.

"Maybe you could fit through it, but I sure as hell can't." Merle said.

Mae gave a sigh, looking around, wondering what to do.

"Then we'll have to figure out something else."

Merle sat himself down against the wall, letting out a sigh as he put down Mae's axe. Well, here he was, stuck in another place he couldn't escape from. At least he wasn't handcuffed to anything this time, and he wasn't alone. Hell, this was a whole lot better than being stuck on that roof back in Atlanta. Perhaps Daryl noticed they were missing and someone heard his gun shots, or at least heard the aisle when it collapsed. That's what probably drew in the Walkers….

"Let's try waitin', see what happens." Merle said, nodding Mae over to come sit next to him.

Letting out a sigh, Mae sat against the wall next to Merle and they stayed there, quiet for a moment.

"What's telling you to wait?" Mae wondered.

"Last time I didn't wait for my brother to come get me, I ended up losing my hand. Don't want to lose nothin' else that's important this time." Merle said, looking over at Mae.

She smiled, "I didn't think you were that patient."

Merle grinned. "I ain't."

"Merle!"

Daryl yelled, running through the store searching for his older brother. He had been outside with Carol still when he heard the loud crash coming from inside the store. He and Carol immediately ran in, running into Glenn along the way. Glenn told them the back aisle collapsed and that a horde of Walkers came in from out of nowhere, climbing over the mess and making it impossible to get by.

"You see Merle back there?" Daryl asked Glenn as they moved quickly through the store.

"I didn't see him, but I think I heard him. It was either him or Mae that was firing off their gun," Glenn said.

"Shit, Mae!" Daryl recalled that she was still in the store somewhere.

"Merle came in looking for her, maybe he found her and they're together!" Carol said, running behind Daryl.

"Yeah, and maybe they're being attacked right now by Walkers or worse!" Daryl said, coming upon the fallen aisle, littered with Walkers crawling all over it.

Daryl noticed there was one Walker with its body hallway through the door with others still trying to claw their way in there. If Merle and Mae were anywhere near this disaster, they'd be behind that door. Daryl could feel it in his gut.

"We gotta clear all these Walkers out," Daryl said.

"How?" Glenn asked. "There's too many!"

Daryl searched around, thinking of ways to clear all of those Walkers away from the door. His gaze suddenly landed on a row of loading vehicles standing off to the side and was struck with a brilliant idea.

"Follow me."

"How long have we been in here?" Merle asked Mae, pacing slowly up and down the bathroom.

"About fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty," Mae said, still sitting in the same place by the door.

Merle sighed and eyed the bag he had gotten the shirts from. He dug through it, only to become disappointed in his search.

"A bottle of booze would sure make the time go by faster. I'm itchin' for a beer," Merle said.

"You and me both," Mae said, stretching out her arms.

Merle paused, looking over at her and grinned.

"You're bullshittin'. You don't look like the drinkin' type," Merle chuckled.

"I have a drink on occasion," Mae smiled. "This would be one of those occasions."

"Next you're gonna tell me you smoke too."

Mae's response was a bashful smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

"Holy shit." Merle laughed, suddenly amazed with Mae. "What else you hidin' from me, missy?"

Suddenly there was a loud echoing of what sounded like an alarm, causing Merle and Mae to look at each other, both a little confused.

"What the hell is that?" Merle wondered.

"I think it's our rescue." Mae said.

The bathroom door flung open, the dead Walker swinging about in-between the door frame, and in came Glenn, his face happy to see them.

"They're okay!" Glenn called out. "Hurry up, we need to get out of here!"

Mae went to grab her bag and axe, fining that Merle was waiting for her by the door. When they came out, they found Carol and Glenn waiting for them.

"Watch out. When that aisle fell, in made a huge mess. Be careful not to slip on anything." Glenn said, making sure to watch his own step as he weaved in-between crushed boxes.

Merle grabbed Mae's hand and led her through the maze of smashed goods, making sure she was by his side the entire time.

"How the hell did you end up moving that thing?" Merle asked.

"Daryl found a couple fork lifts. He drove one out of the back to clear the Walkers away from here and I used the other to move the aisle. He should be waiting for us in the car," Glenn said as they neared the entrance.

Merle found his own bags of things he left when he went off looking for Mae. He scooped them up quickly and headed outside, seeing Daryl loading up the car still. Carol ran to help him load up and Merle put Mae in the passenger's seat.

"Hurry up now!" Daryl said.

"Do we need to hurry? No one's here-" Mae cut her own self off when she looked to the side of the wholesale's store.

The vast group of Walkers that Daryl had led outside was now walking past the side of the store, heading for their car. Mae shivered with fear.

"Get in the car!"

Merle revved up the engine and once everyone was inside, he peeled out of the complex parking lot as fast as he could.


End file.
